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William Aspray and Garrard Ltd v WRA Guns Ltd, 2001 EWCA Civ 1499

William Aspray and Garrard Ltd v WRA Guns Ltd, 2001 EWCA Civ 1499


Citation:William Aspray and Garrard Ltd v WRA Guns Ltd, 2001 EWCA Civ 1499

Link to case on WorldLII.

Rule of thumb: What happens if you have the same birth name as an organisation who has trade marked this, and you want to keep with them under your own name in the sector? You are not allowed to use it in the exact same way - you have to adapt your name in some way so that there is a distinction.

Background facts:

Parties argued:

Judgment:

As a general rule someone will be allowed to use their own name as their trading name, but if someone’s name provides a particularly close connection with an existing trade mark in the same sector then they may be forced to adapt it. The facts were that William Asprey wanted to start his own arms manufacturing business and trade in his own. There already was another guns company called WRA Guns Ltd which was started by someone else who was similarly called William R. Asprey. The new William Asprey genuinely was called this from birth and genuinely was educated in this field, but it was held that he was not allowed to use this name as a trading name – the Court held that whilst it did give him a presumption of being allowed, he was not allowed to trade as his own name and had to come up with another trading name, ‘however honest his subjective intentions may be, any use of his own name which amounts to passing off cannot be in accordance with honest practice in industrial or commercial matters’.

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Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.