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Could the battle for the name JUMBO have been avoided?

The entry of the Greek chain into Israel created a collision with the "Jumbo Stock" brand that is already operating in the country.

This fight will come to court and it is a pity that it could have been prevented

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• Intellectual Property

Adv. Liron Koren

Monday, 19 October 2020, 09:26

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Will entering Israel encounter difficulties?

Jumbo Abroad (Photo: From Tripadvisor)

In the last two weeks, much has been published about a dispute between the Greek company Jumbo, which has a chain of dozens of retail stores throughout Europe, and the Israeli company Chuck Bass, which owns a chain of stores and uses the name JUMBO or JUMBO Stock.

The dispute between the two began in September, when the Greek company Jumbo submitted a request to register the name JUMBO and its logo as trademarks in Israel.

On the other hand, the Israeli company Chuck Bass, which did not register its name as a trademark until that date, submitted an urgent application to register its trademarks (which mainly include the word JUMBO), and also opposed the registration of the JUMBO mark of the Greek jumbo company.

After the parties' claims and evidence are submitted, the Registrar of Trademarks will have to decide which of the two has the right to use the JUMBO brand in Israel, or whether the two companies (Greek and Israeli) can live together and operate in Israel under the JUMBO mark, without misleading the public.

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Harel Wiesel (Photo: Shuka Cohen)

This is not the first time that a conflict has taken place in Israel in which international brands seek to enter the country but encounter local brands operating under the same / similar name in Israel.

This was the case, for example, in 2018, when an American company that owns the ELECTRA brand in the field of bicycles asked to register its trademark in Israel.

It was rejected by the trademark arbitrator after a group of Israeli Electra companies objected to it and proved that it has the right to this (registered) mark in Israel, and that the registration of the mark requested by the American company would infringe on its right and mislead the public.

Another example is the owner of the international clothing brand Cosabella, which belongs to the American company Luemme, which wanted to register the trademark Cosabella in Israel.

Luemme encountered difficulty due to another application for registration of a local clothing brand called Cocabella (Cocabella) operating in Israel since 2003. In this case the Trademark Registrar allowed the registration of the two marks together after believing that the two companies used the name in good faith and that there was no fear of misleading the public. The clothes and target audience of the two companies are different.

Of course, each case and its circumstances must be discussed (including the question of how well the brand is known in Israel and by whom, the good faith of the parties, etc.), but beyond the legal aspect, this is a real dilemma.

On the one hand, there is a desire to allow international companies to enter the Israeli market and market their products here with confidence (a positive and desirable thing that opens Israel to international markets and huge investments from abroad that are willing to make in Israel), especially when those international brands are reputable in Israel. On the right of local companies that acted in good faith, slowly grew and established their own reputation in Israel, while investing a lot of effort and resources.

Adv. Liron Koren (Photo: Tomer Jacobson)

What may already decide the next dispute that will break out between the owners of the international brands that want to enter the country and local companies that use the same or similar mark, is the timely registration of the trademark in Israel by those who use it (as far as legally possible, not It is always possible).

For only the registration of the mark confers on its owner an unequivocal proprietary right in the trademark and allows its owner relatively easily to prevent others from making infringing use of it.

It is important to give it the attention it deserves - anyone who uses various trademarks and invests resources, money, thought and efforts in marketing his name and brands and building a reputation, should ensure that these investments do not hurt and / or go down the drain, by registering his trademarks and acquiring proprietary - Before the outbreak of the next conflict.

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