November 2006
When it Rains it Pours
(The Ashes – Trade Mark Infringement)
The Barmy Army are not having a good time in Australia.
First the overly enthusiastic security staff at the Gabba have led to threats to boycott the series, then England lose the first test and finally the ECB itself is accusing it of infringing the ECB’s intellectual property.
This accusation appears to be levelled at the Barmy Army’s attempt to sell merchandise bearing references to the Ashes and carrying the ECB’s logo of three lions and a crown.
Although it has been reported in some newspapers that the ECB is complaining of copyright infringement it seems more likely that the complaint is one of trade mark infringement given that these marks are registered trade marks.
However, as Simon Millington, a partner of, The Sports HQ, the company behind the merchandise says, “The Barmy Army have used The Ashes mark since 1994, so they have a prior claim to it which prevents the ECB from using it.”
Briffa Bite
A quick look at the UK trade mark registry reveals that the ECB applied for, “The Ashes” mark in September 2005 and that this has still not been registered. The mark should have been registered years before but the fact that it hasn’t means that it would be advisable for the ECB to tread very carefully.