August 2003
Noel Edmonds finds it difficult to take it easy
The rumblings of a legal battle are audible as Noel Edmonds (he of the House Party) and easyGroup owner, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, appear to be on a collision course regarding the use of 'easymeetings' as a trade mark.
Noel Edmonds' company face2face is planning to launch a business providing video conferencing. It was initially hoped by Edmonds that easyGroup would be involved in the business. However, after a short meeting Stelios appears to have come to the conclusion that easyGroup could develop their own videoconference business. Head of easyGroup communications John Rothnie was unclear as to what Edmonds was hoping to achieve by bringing the idea to easyGroup, as there was no reason why they could not set up a video conferencing business without Edmonds' help.
Edmonds, worried that his idea might be used by easyGroup, is hoping to successfully register 'easymeeting'. With easyGroup seeing video conferencing as a logical addition to existing easyInternetcafés, it looks as though this issue will not be easily resolved.
Briffa Comment
When bringing a new idea to a prospective business partner, the best way to ensure that your idea is not developed without your consent is to obtain a confidentiality agreement before disclosing your idea to them.
If you do not use a confidentiality agreement, you will need to rely on the law of Confidential Information. In order to bring a claim, you would need to show that the information had a necessary quality of confidence, that the idea was disclosed to the potential defendant in circumstances where an obligation of confidence can be assumed and that there has been an unauthorised use of the information. All three elements can be difficult to prove.
Trade marks can be objected to on a number of grounds. It can be because they cannot be registered due to them being descriptive of characteristics of the goods or that they are similar to a pre-existing mark for a similar range of goods. Trade marks do not need to be identical to a pre-existing mark to be refused registration. If it is a similar mark for similar or identical goods registration may be refused.