LEGALWISE - things are about to turn ugly in Botswana The fight over who has rights to the name LEGALWISE in Botswana is set to continue
|
Botswana has become the battle ground for the fight over the LEGALWISE name
after two companies are claiming use of the name.
The issue began when LEGALWISE South Africa, a legal aid insurance
company, registered the name with the Botswana Registrar of Trademarks after the
company began making expansion plans into the rest of Africa. However, the
company was deregistered after they failed to submit returns to the Registrar.
In the meantime, another Botswana company, dealing in the same field of legal
aid insurance, requested to register its own name as LEGALWISE Botswana and was
granted permission.
LEGALWISE South Africa got wind of the events and entered into negotiations
with the Botswana company to sign a buy-out deal. Unfortunately, negotiations
fell through and left LEGALWISE South Africa no option but to consult with
attorneys about the use of the name in the Botswana market.
The Botswana group was given until October to stop using the name and in a
letter to the company, the firm representing LEGALWISE South Africa, Spoor
Fisher said: "Our clients have used their LEGALWISE trademarks extensively in
Southern Africa including Botswana...It has come to our client's attention that
you are using the trademark LEGALWISE in relation to legal insurance services...
Our instructions are to call on you to immediately cease all use of the trade
mark LEGALWISE, failing which infringement proceedings will be instituted
against you."
In the meantime, LEGALWISE Botswana had its contract with its insurance
underwriters, Atlantis Insurance Brokers terminated, with the latter citing
breach of agency agreement. The company is now in negotiations to clinch another
agency agreement with a different firm, leaving the issue about the LEGALWISE
name still very much up in the air.