Commercial Trademark Services Sa and Another v. Liscaroll Co Ltd t/a Commercial Investigation Services and Others

Case No.[1983] 2 HKC 474

Court

Date—

Judge—

Case Document

100%Judiciary

HCA010950M/1982

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE

Action No. 10950/82

BETWEEN

	COMMERCIAL TRADEMARK SERVICES S.A.	1st Plaintiff
	COMMERCIAL TRADEMARK SERVICES (HONG KONG) LTD.	2nd Plaintiff
	AND
	LISCAROLL COMPANY LIMITED trading as COMMERCIAL INVESTIGATIONSERVICES	1st Defendant
	MAN WAH MING (麥允明)	2nd Defendant
	CHEUNG TAI TIN (張泰廷)	3rd Defendant
	DAVID HENRY EDWARDS	4th Defendant

Coram: Hon. LIU J. (In Chambers)

Date: 26th February, 1983.

JUDGMENT

CORRIGENDUM

I. Kindly correct last paragraph at page 8 of the judgment as follows:-

(1)	In the 1st line in that paragraph, delete the word "an" and substitute therefor the word "the"
(2)	In the 2nd line in that paragraph, insert the words "of common descriptive words" between the word "name" and the word "is".
(3)	In the 5th line in that paragraph, insert the words "of descriptive words" between "user" and "for".
(4)	In the 10th line in that paragraph, (i) delete the first "a" and substitute therefor "the" and (ii) delete the last three words "the use of".
(5)	In the 11th line in that paragraph, insert the words "of a common descriptive character" between the word "name" and the word "by".
(6)	In the last line of that paragraph, delete "a second" and substitute therefor "any subsequent".

II. That last paragraph should therefore read:

Even without the acquisition of any secondary meaning, a trader may nevertheless claim that his trade name of common descriptive words is so much identified with his business that any other trader seeking to use the same words or some of them as part of his title must clearly differentiate. But his task must be formidable. A period of user of descriptive words for as long as 12 years was regarded as inadequate. ''The Court will", so Lord Simons put it succinctly at page 43 (lines 3 and 4) in the office Cleaning case, "undoubtedly take into consideration long user of a descriptive name but will not forget that, since it is descriptive, small differences may suffice" to avert confusion. However, if the first user has acquired a proprietary right to a name of a common descriptive character by having universally associated it solely with himself, it stands to reason that a greater degree of differentiation must be shown in a similar name resorted to by any subsequent trader.

	(Angela Lau)
	Clerk to Hon. LIU J.

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