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United Brothers Co., a Palestinian company, filed on 29 June
2009 a trademark application for "ZAHI (in Latin and Arabic
letters)" in class 30 under no. 16371. The application was
published on 26 April 2010.
Acting on behalf of our client, ZOUHAIR KATRANJI & SONS CO.
(ZAHI FOR INDUSTRY & TRADE), a Syrian company, and the real
owner of the trademark "ZAHI", we filed an opposition
against the above application based on the following:
Earlier registrations by our client for ZAHI in class 30 in
their home country and abroad since the 1990s.
Prior use of the said mark in their home country and abroad by
our client.
The trademark ZAHI has become a famous and well-known trademark
due to the above reasons.
The infringing application is identical to our client's
trademark, and will lead to confusing the consumers as to the
origins of the products bearing that mark.
The defendant submitted a counter statement claiming that the
opposition was submitted after the expiration of the opposition
period, and their reply also stated that they have the right of
ownership of the subject trademark, since they have a prior
application for registration in the West Bank, despite the fact
that the opposer had prior registrations in many countries around
the world. They requested a rejection of our opposition and to
carry on with their registration procedures.
After reviewing the file, the opposition, and the reply, the
Trademark Registrar issued his decision to stop the registration
procedures of the opposed trademark, and he supported this verdict
by the following:
The opposition was submitted during the legal opposition period
for that mark.
The Syrian company submitted evidence that they own the
trademark since 1992 (in their home country and worldwide), and
that date is before the date of submitting the opposed
application.
The defendant did not submit any evidence to prove their prior
ownership of "ZAHI".
A trademark being accepted and published in the Official
Gazette does not grant ownership of that trademark according to the
law.
United Brothers Co. appealed before the High Court. After
several hearings, the court issued its decree to support the
Registrar's decision to stop the trademark registration
procedure, and this decision cannot be appealed further.
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