Aircooled VW South Africa

Golfmad wrote:Its because of VW SA that I will never again buy any new VW from them

brianj wrote: The reasonable person should be able to tell the difference between this site and the vw sa site.

eben wrote:Trademark Act:

PART VIII
INFRINGEMENT

33.

Registration a condition precedent to an action for infringement.

No person shall be entitled to institute any proceedings under section 34 in
relation to a trade mark not registered under this Act: Provided that nothing in
this Act shall affect the rights of any person, at common law, to bring any
action against any other person.

34.

Infringement of registered trade mark.

(1)

(2)

The rights acquired by registration of a trade mark shall be infringed
by—

(a)

the unauthorized use in the course of trade in relation to goods
or services in respect of which the trade mark is registered, of
an identical mark or of a mark so nearly resembling it as to be
likely to deceive or cause confusion;

(b)

the unauthorized use of a mark which is identical or similar to
the trade mark registered, in the course of trade in relation to
goods or services which are so similar to the goods or services
in respect of which the trade mark is registered, that in such
use there exists the likelihood of deception or confusion;

(c)

the unauthorized use in the course of trade in relation to any
goods or services of a mark which is identical or similar to a
trade mark registered, if such trade mark is well known in the
Republic and the use of the said mark would be likely to take
unfair advantage of, or be detrimental to, the distinctive
character or the repute of the registered trade mark,
notwithstanding the absence of confusion or deception:
Provided that the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to
a trade mark referred to in section 70 (2).

retrovan wrote: May I just remind you that, VWSA not only feed us when in Uitenhage, but also have a Permanent staff member take photo's of us, in the car park with Logo Flag flying, (see thread), and then give us a full page exposure in the internal News Paper.

eben wrote:Does someone have a copy/image of that article?

fig wrote:I can't see the image, but I've seen these sorts of corporate bully letters before.

Personally, I wouldn't even bother to respond unless they issue summons. Just a gang of thieving lawyers trying to jusify their huge corporate retainers.

They don't own the term aircooledvwsa. They don't have the right to regulate anyone's use of their name for identification purposes. They cannot reasonably argue that anyone, except some dumb-ass parasite lawyer, would confuse this site with VWSA or any other VW brand or copyright or IP.

I would be very happy to participate in a campaign where we remove all VW emblems from our cars in protest. Bus drivers could go further by fitting the VW emblem upside down.

My personal response to VW and their parasitic lawyers: go fcuk yourselves! Is this how you treat enthusiasts who keep old Volkswagens on the road and help build your brand's reputation for reliability and longevity? Enthusiasts who keep these cars on the road with zero support from VW; just this kind of hindrance.

If you gang of parasites wants us to stop using the aircooledvwsa name, then make an offer and buy it so you own it and then you can do as you please, including shutting the site down. I am sure Eben would be open to seven-figure offers.

Golfmad wrote:Its because of VW SA that I will never again buy any new VW from them- I will be buying Japanese, or other German marks.... they are SO out of touch with what their PAYING customers want, it actually hurts !!! Even though I know lots of people who are VW fanatics, for their newer waterpumpers, and all of them really REALLY wants SA to have a 2 door Gti - noooooo !! They have been giving us stupid 4 door models since, well, the begining of Gti in SA, claiming market research shows people prefer 4 doors bla bla bla wara wara etc - they are so out of touch !

Judging by that stupid email from a stupid lawyer(liar) person I feel vindicated !

oldschoolgp wrote:

They would see a new hippie revolution .......