Conor McGregor loses trademark fight

Conor McGregor has failed in a legal fight with a clothing firm over sportswear that bears his name.

The 31-year-old MMA fighter applied to register his name as a trademark in order to sell clothing in Europe.

This was opposed, however, by the McGregor fashion label, founded by David Doniger almost 100 years ago and now owned by a Dutch company.

A member of Clan Gregor, Mr Doniger could trace his roots to the first kings of Scotland. He made his money as a maker of McGregor tartan caps, giving him enough to make the voyage to New York, where he started his firm in 1921.

Mr McGregor sought to register his name in 2017. The following year McGregor won an interim victory as the sale of the fighter’s clothing was banned.

The firm last year succeeded in stopping the 32-year-old from registering the trademark “Conor McGregor” after a ruling from the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

The EUIPO has now ruled that three new trademarks – “McGregor Productions”, “McGregor Combat” and “The McGregor Follows” – cannot be registered for the sale of clothing, footwear and headgear.

In the ruling, the EUIPO said: “Visually and aurally, the signs coincide in the element ‘McGregor’, and therefore the earlier marks are fully included at the beginning of the contested mark, where consumers generally tend to focus on when they encounter a trademark.

“This is because the public reads from left to right, which makes the part placed at the left of the sign (the initial part) the one that first catches the attention of the reader.

“It is highly conceivable that the relevant consumer will perceive the contested mark as a sub-brand, a variation of the earlier marks, configured in a different way according to the type of goods that it designates.

“It follows from the above that the contested trademark must be rejected for the goods found to be identical and similar to the opponent’s goods.”

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