Tidman Legal advises Hula on successful defence of its brand
Tidman Legal has advised Hula juice bar on the successful defence of its brand name
14 years after its establishment, Edinburgh based Hula decided to apply to trade mark its brand name as it became aware of another company using an identical name.
This company then opposed Hula’s trade mark application.
A defence was prepared and cancellation proceedings were commenced by Oliver Tidman.
What was the outcome?
In addition to having its trade mark partially invalidated as a result of cancellation proceedings commenced by Oliver Tidman, the other party to the dispute has agreed to pay all costs after losing its opposition.
Following the settlement, Hula Managing Director Peter Borgen-Nielsen said:
“I had to challenge another company for a trade mark that I thought I had rights to. It was a very worrying time as it would have meant rebranding if we lost. At the end of the process, we won and it was a huge relief!
Oliver provided us with sound advice from the very beginning, letting us know the risks of our actions so we knew best and worst case possible outcomes. Oliver ensured that we were well prepared from the very beginning and this approach definitely helped us a lot because the other side were not prepared. When their evidence was submitted Oliver was instrumental in finding the holes that enabled us to win the case, he was very diligent and that combined with us prepping in advance and his legal arguments won us the case. It was a long process due to the nature of challenging trade marks but it was worth it in the end!
I would definitely recommend Oliver, he guided me all the way through from a legal perspective and at times he was an emotional support also. We achieved everything that we wanted to achieve and couldn’t have got a better outcome!”
What does this mean for you?
This decision highlights the importance for brand owners of clearing and registering key assets, such as brand names, as trade marks prior to launching their brands.
The ability to challenge existing, confusingly similar or identical trade marks as in this case cannot be seen as a “fail-safe” route to protecting and retaining your brand name from a third party later down the line.
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