"Marketing Week has just reported that a branding consultancy known as Dave has withdrawn its opposition to a Community trade mark application to register the word DAVE by the TV channel which is also known by the brand Dave ("the home of witty banter"). This dispute has been ongoing for some time, with the branding consultancy’s opposition appearing to be based on claims of prior common law rights under the tort of passing based on past use of the DAVE brand.
The cessation of hostilities in the War of the Daves comes as a surprise, as the brand consultancy was at least partially successful in its opposition to TV Dave’s application. Although that decision [a case note on the legal issues, published in JIPLP, can be read here] was under appeal with the TV channel branding OHIM's decision as being based on a "fundamental misunderstanding" of the UK law of passing off and an "entirely wrong assessment of the factual circumstances", it now appears that peace has broken out on the Dave front.
Marketing Week quotes representatives for both parties: "We are currently in dialogue and, while it would be premature to pre-empt the outcome of those discussions, we can say we are pleased with the constructive approach that both parties have chosen to take." [Merpel bets this is a coded message that one of the Daves is paying the other a tidy sum ...]
It appears in the paraphrase that well known anti Vietnam War slogan of the sixties it is better to come up with ingeniously named TV channels and branding consultancy’s than to make war".Daves here, here and here
Davos here
Davis here and, not so innocent, here
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