Gideon Gono loses magazine fight
Published: 2013 January 22 09:07:01 (3391 Views)
ZIMBABWE Publishing House (ZPH), owned by central bank chief Gideon Gono, has lost the fight for Parade magazine after the Controller of Patents and Trademarks ruled that the publication was owned by a rival firm.
ZPH and Ke Nako Media have been fighting for the right to use the Parade title for their respective monthly publications.
ZPH - which published a dummy of the once popular magazine in December ahead of a planned relaunch this year - acquired rights to the title and the attendant goodwill after buying the magazine from Thomson Publications. Parade ceased publication several years ago.
But ZPH and the former magazine owners had been operating without registering the trademark as required by law and were stumped by Ke Nako Media who registered the service mark last year as both firms were licensed by the Zimbabwe Media Commission to publish the same magazine.
ZPH approached the High Court claiming its service mark had been hijacked and Justice Ben Hlatshwayo referred the dispute to the Controller of Patents, Trade Marks and Industrial Designs who upheld Ke Nako Media's claim in a determination handed down last Friday.
According to the ruling, ZPH and the magazine's previous publishers did not register the service mark. ZPH also failed to oppose Ke Nako Media's registration of the title.
"(ZPH) claims are, in our view, not merited … (Ke Nako Media) is hereby confirmed to be the legitimate owner of the Parade service mark and possible related classes. Alternatively, ZPH can only seek to become a registered user to applicant, if applicant is agreeable," reads part of the ruling.
"ZPH did not only fail to register the service mark, Parade, but also did not oppose the registration of the said mark although they received the Trade Mark Journal in which the mark was advertised in good time.
"(They) also did not file the required deed of assignment documents in order to validate or merit their claim that the service mark called Parade was indeed, at some time, assigned to them by Thomson Publications."
Ke Nako said they would now proceed to revive the magazine which folded nearly a decade ago.
Said the company's lawyer, Nelson Mashizha: "The ruling clearly states that Ke Nako is the owner of all rights in respect of the Parade.
"In terms of the law ZPH did not buy anything from Thomson Publications. We are very glad and we are going ahead to publish. Our first issue will be hitting the streets next month."
- NewZimbabwe.com
ZPH and Ke Nako Media have been fighting for the right to use the Parade title for their respective monthly publications.
ZPH - which published a dummy of the once popular magazine in December ahead of a planned relaunch this year - acquired rights to the title and the attendant goodwill after buying the magazine from Thomson Publications. Parade ceased publication several years ago.
But ZPH and the former magazine owners had been operating without registering the trademark as required by law and were stumped by Ke Nako Media who registered the service mark last year as both firms were licensed by the Zimbabwe Media Commission to publish the same magazine.
ZPH approached the High Court claiming its service mark had been hijacked and Justice Ben Hlatshwayo referred the dispute to the Controller of Patents, Trade Marks and Industrial Designs who upheld Ke Nako Media's claim in a determination handed down last Friday.
According to the ruling, ZPH and the magazine's previous publishers did not register the service mark. ZPH also failed to oppose Ke Nako Media's registration of the title.
"(ZPH) claims are, in our view, not merited … (Ke Nako Media) is hereby confirmed to be the legitimate owner of the Parade service mark and possible related classes. Alternatively, ZPH can only seek to become a registered user to applicant, if applicant is agreeable," reads part of the ruling.
"ZPH did not only fail to register the service mark, Parade, but also did not oppose the registration of the said mark although they received the Trade Mark Journal in which the mark was advertised in good time.
"(They) also did not file the required deed of assignment documents in order to validate or merit their claim that the service mark called Parade was indeed, at some time, assigned to them by Thomson Publications."
Ke Nako said they would now proceed to revive the magazine which folded nearly a decade ago.
Said the company's lawyer, Nelson Mashizha: "The ruling clearly states that Ke Nako is the owner of all rights in respect of the Parade.
"In terms of the law ZPH did not buy anything from Thomson Publications. We are very glad and we are going ahead to publish. Our first issue will be hitting the streets next month."
- NewZimbabwe.com
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