The ongoing legal battles between the ANC and former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party continue as the ANC’s legal team is appearing in the Durban High Court on Thursday to make an application to seek leave to appeal the court’s ruling on MK Party’s trademark.
ANC acting national spokesperson, Zuko Godlimpi, said the party is seeking leave to appeal the previous high court judgment in the Durban High Court in order to be granted access to make its appeal application at the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Godlimpi said the ANC is confident that its appeal application will be successful. The ANC is represented by advocate Gavin Marriott.
Both parties began making their oral arguments in the Durban High Court on Thursday.
Prospects of success
“The ANC can confirm that our legal team is appearing in the high court of South Africa [KwaZulu-Natal region] to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal, alternatively the full court of this division, confident that there are reasonable prospects of success on appeal,” said Godlimpi.
“The ANC is determined to petition for a court order that stops Mr Zuma’s party, currently referring to itself as the uMkhonto we Sizwe Party, from any further unlawful use of the ANC’s trademarks, symbols, and heritage.
“The grounds upon which the ANC contends that the court erred in reaching the conclusions that it sets out include: In Section 34(1)(c) of the Trade Marks Act, 194 of 1993, the court, in its judgment, found that the mark used by the MK Party was similar to that registered in the name of the ANC.
“This is all that Section 34(1)(c) requires on this issue. The section does not require any further deception or confusion. Yet, this appears to be the primary basis upon which the cause of action was dismissed.
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“The court’s further finding that it lacks the jurisdiction to determine the passing off and trademark infringement cases is novel in the sense that no high court has ever found that its jurisdiction to determine a trade mark infringement suit or passing off claim has been ousted by statute.
“For that reason alone, there are reasonable prospects of success in the appeal. Mr Zuma and his collaborators are committing what the ANC considers to be a gross violation of Trade Marks Act No. 194 of 1993 by registering a political party and appropriating the uMkhonto we Sizwe logo and related symbols unlawfully.”
Application dismissed in April
In April, the Durban High Court dismissed the ANC’s application to prevent the uMKhonto weSizwe Party from using its name and logo.
The ANC contended that the name uMkhonto weSizwe belonged to its heritage and intellectual property, but the MK Party argued that the ruling party lacked ownership rights over the name and logo.
The ANC had approached the court in March, claiming infringement of the Trade Marks Act over the use of the name and logo associated with the ANC’s former military wing, uMkhonto weSizwe.
