Stichting BDO and other companies v BDO Unibank, Inc. and other companies [2013] EWHC 418 (Ch), [2013] All ER (D) 39 (Mar)
It was established law that: (i) genuine use meant actual use of the mark by the proprietor or a third party with authority to use the mark; (ii) the use had to be more than merely token; (iii) the use had to be consistent with the essential function of a trade mark; (iv) the use had to be by way of real commercial exploitation of the mark on the market for the relevant goods or services; (v) all the relevant facts and circumstances had to be taken into account in determining whether there was real commercial exploitation of the mark; (vi) use of the mark did not need always to be quantitatively significant for it to be deemed genuine; (vii) the tribunal’s first task was to find as a fact what goods or services there had been genuine use of the trade mark in relation to during the relevant period; (viii) the tribunal had to arrive at a fair specification having regard to the use
