August 31, 2011
In a ruling of the Intellectual Property Office, it was decided that it would be misleading to the public for Cheryl Baker (referred to by her real name, Rita Stroud), Mike Nolan and Jay Aston to continue to appear under the name ‘the original Bucks Fizz’.
The case was fought against another original member, Robert Gubby, who along with his partner had been touring under the names ‘Bucks Fizz’ or ‘Bobby G’s Bucks Fizz.’ It was decided that Mr Gubby and his partner owned the name, after they registered it as a trademark in 2001.
Allan James, the principle hearing office said in his ruling that “the submission that two original members are enough to avoid misleading the public (possibly provided these are Rita Stroud and Mike Nolan) but that one original member is not enough appears to me to be an arbitrary distinction. The public would have no reason to expect the group performing as Bucks Fizz to consist of the original lineup … [that] had not performed together for 24 years."
Dean Dunham, solicitor for Baker, Nolan and Aston, said “Clearly the band is extremely disappointed in this decision and we will be immediately appealing it through the High Courts to get this decision overturned. We believe the decision is not correct in law as we have clearly shown that the public are indeed misled by the use of the Bucks Fizz trademark by its owner Heidi Manton and her husband Robert Gubby and, with this being the case, the trademark should have been revoked."
