Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 24-03-2017
The High Court in Pretoria has ruled in favour of the United Ulama Council of South Africa (UUCSA) in its trade mark expungement application brought against an organisation which Ml. AS Desai claims to have formed and to represent.
In 2013 Ml. Desai from Port Elizabeth registered the name “United Ulama Council of South Africa” as a trade mark and thereafter sought to prevent UUCSA from using this name.
UUCSA launched proceedings in 2014 to expunge the trade mark registered by on the basis, amongst others, that the fake UUCSA of Ml. Desai did not act in good faith when it registered the trade mark and had no legal interest in the use of the trade mark.
The high court today ruled that the fake UUCSA of Ml Desai had no legitimate or lawful claim to the trade mark “United Ulama Council of South Africa” when it caused such trade mark to be registered and that the trade mark was registered male fides (in bad faith) as contemplated in the Trade Marks Act.
The court also ruled that the Registrar of Trade Marks must remove the fake trade mark of Ml. AS Desai from the Trade Marks Register with immediate effect.
Ml. AS Desai has also been ordered by the court to pay UUCSA’s court costs.
In a statement Secretary General Ml. Yusuf Patel’s says they are thankful the court has ruled in their favour.
“The court order is a damning indictment on those persons who used unlawful and unethical means to register our name as their own. What makes it worse is that this was done in the name of religion.”
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