A-Plus in fight over trademark breach
A-Plus Funeral Services accuses A-Class Funeral Services of infringing on its trade mark. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
- A-Plus Funeral Services accuses A-Class Funeral Services of infringing on its trade mark by using initials that are not only similar but confusing to its clients.
- A-Plus wants court to issue an injunction restraining A-Class or its agents from using, trading under or causing to offer funeral services not of A-Plus.
A-Plus Funeral Services has filed a case in which it is seeking to protect its trademark against infringement.
In a case filed before the Commercial Division of the High Court, A-Plus Funeral Services accuses A-Class Funeral Services of infringing on its trade mark by using initials that are not only similar but confusing to its clients.
A-Class is sued alongside Uganda Registration Services Bureau, which is accused of failing to perform its due diligence, which resulted into wrongfully incorporating a company with a confusing trade business name.
A-Plus contends that it was incorporated in 2003 and has for 17 years been involved in the business of funeral management in Uganda with no other service providers in funeral management known by the said name.
It also states that over the years, it has acquired goodwill with its services known well to the public until September 2020 when it was notified of another company that had been incorporated under a name similar to theirs.
“The plaintiff [A-Plus) carried out a search with [URSB] whereupon they established that [A-Class] had been incorporated and added to the company register on August 31, 2020 under the name A-class Funeral Services,” documents before court read in part.
Through the search and upon scrutiny of the first defendant’s memorandum and articles of association, documents indicate, A-Plus also established that the
A-Class was seeking and intends to get involved in the business of funeral management.
In letters dated September 16 and September 24, 2020, A-Plus objected to the registration of A-Class but its pleas were ignored.
Since August 31, court documents indicate, A-Class has been purporting to trade in Uganda under the name and fashion which is confusingly similar to A-Plus’ widely well-known name.
A-Plus avers that the use of the name A-Class is a wrongful attempt to pass off its business name and thus misleading the public into the belief that they are the same companies whereas not.
Acting through Buwule & Mayiga Advocates, A-Plus is seeking for declaratory orders that URSB negligently facilitated the passing off its name and business to A-Class and an order deregistering it or in the alternative cause the change of names.
