April 26, 2011
Tesco is facing an opposition to one of its trade marks by a German company, which has filed an opposition against Tesco’s application for the mark’s registration with the Intellectual Property Office. The trade mark concerned is the name Yoo which is used by Tesco for a range of yoghurts. The German company has had a registered Community trade mark for the mark Yo since 2009 for its soft drinks range, which covers twenty seven countries in the European Union and is arguing that this is confusingly similar to Tesco’s mark. Now that an opposition has been filed, the parties will have the chance to negotiate a compromise. If this is not achieved, the Examiner will make a decision. The losing party may be obliged to re-brand its products. A business that has a trade mark that is of particular value to it should make an application to have it registered as soon as possible. Searches should also be carried out to make sure that the mark is not already in use by another competing business. A business law solicitor or trade mark agent can assist with trade mark searches and registrations.