FNB fails trademark bid by UAE’s biggest bank
FirstRand has tried in vain to bar UAE's largest bank by assets – First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) – from applying for a trade name under the FAB banner, failing to convince the court that the trademark application infringes that of its subsidiary, FNB.
A Business Day report says FNB suffered a further blow after the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) rejected it leave to appeal the decision it made in 2023 that found that FAB trademark does infringe that of FNB.
The judge found that FNB, through parent company FirstRand, was merely trying to cut out competition with its application to stop the FAB trademark.
The trademark FAB has applied for falls into the category of banking services, telebanking services, mobile banking services, home banking services, business banking information, financial liquidation services, capital investment services, insurance underwriting and financing loans, among others.
FirstRand will now have to petition the SCA to hear the matter if it is not satisfied with the High Court’s findings.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
