Authorities Rule Out That Cassper Nyovest Doesn’t Own #FillUp
Cassper's manager responds to the ruling.
Authorities Rule Out That Cassper Nyovest Doesn’t Own #FillUp. Multi-award winning rapper Refiloe Maele Phoolo famously known as Cassper Nyovest expressed last week that he will taking legal action against Tsonga musician Benny Mayengeni for using the phrase #fillup without his (Cassper) permission as a self acclaimed owner of the term.
TshisaLIVE has seen the trademark records for the phrase, which states that Cassper applied for the trademark with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) in November 2016 but it hasn’t yet been approved.
The application was processed and “accepted with conditions”, while a letter was sent to Cassper in June 2017 telling him what conditions needed to be met to have the trademark granted.
“The office has issued an official action setting out the conditions for acceptance of the application. The trademark applicant needs to respond in writing to the office agreeing to the conditions in order for the application to proceed to acceptance,” senior manager at CIPC’s Head Of Trademarks Division Fleurette Coetzee explained to TshisaLIVE.
Copyright lawyer Adele Els told TshisaLIVE that a person who has applied for a trademark but had not yet registered it cannot prevent another person from using it. However once granted, they can retrospectively take action against its use while the trademark status was pending.
This means that once the trademark is registered Cassper can take any legal action against Benny.
“Only once the trademark has proceeded to registration do the rights come into existence and can the trademark proprietor institute infringement proceedings. It is important to point out, however that once registered the rights are granted retrospectively to the date of filing,” she said.
Lawyer Graeme Gilfillian also confirmed this to TshisaLIVE and said that as it stands, neither party could take action against each other for using the phrase.
“Presently neither could stop the other from its use – neither owns the trademark. Also if the trademark has not been registered, a third party if not time barred can register an objective. Its unwise to make noise without registration,” he added.
Cassper’s manager Lerato ‘TLee’ Moiloa told TshisaLIVE he could not comment on the specifics of the dispute because it is now a legal issue but said that the law should take its course.
“This is now a matter for our lawyers. We have spoken to the other side (Benny’s team) and there has been no solution. We will fight because this is a brand we have worked hard to build. We are committed to this, we will allow the legal route and law to take its course.”
SOURCE : TSHISALIVE
