Six years ago, the Industrial Property Office granted Elton hodin\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e1’s application to invalidate the trademark. The Supreme Administrative Court now states that this was a mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There was no reason to invalidate the trademark, at least not for the reasons found by the office, and it still belongs to MPM-Quality,” says Supreme Administrative Court judge Karel \u0160imka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The court did not directly rule on which company may use the Prim brand. Even so, its verdict may mark a turning point in a legal case that has lasted two decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elton hodin\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e1 had previously argued that the sale of the brand to its rival was unclear due to a botched privatisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From \u0160imka’s perspective, the \u00daPV erred in evaluating the registration of the trademark from the socialist era through a contemporary lens. The state enterprises of that time were, in his view, components of a centrally managed economy. “What happened back then must be accepted as fact,” says the presiding judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the socialist era, Prim watches were produced in Nov\u00e9 M\u011bsto nad Metuj\u00ed at a branch plant of the state enterprise Chronotechna. In 1969, the watchmakers separated from it and the state enterprise Elton was established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The predecessor of Elton hodin\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e1 used the Prim brand under a licence agreement concluded with Chronotechna. However, the post-privatisation successor of the state enterprise Chronotechna \u2014 the company Eutech \u2014 sold the Prim trademarks to MPM-Quality owner Petr Hanko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hanko has been in the watchmaking business since 1992. He also launched his own production in Fr\u00fddek-M\u00edstek. However, his watches do not contain Czech movements \u2014 he assembles most of them from Swiss or Japanese components. Shortly after purchasing the Prim brand, legal disputes with Elton hodin\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e1 began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The merry-go-round of disputes continues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hanko is convinced that thanks to Monday’s ruling he holds a powerful tool with which he can turn the disputes over brand ownership in his favour. “We will fight to ensure that Elton hodin\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e1 immediately stops advertising and selling all products under the Prim brand in the Czech Republic,” declares the determined entrepreneur, who is waiting for the office to re-register the word and figurative trademark. He wants to launch further lawsuits and injunctions against his competitor. “There will be no more Prim in Nov\u00e9 M\u011bsto nad Metuj\u00ed,” Hanko believes. He says he will also litigate for financial compensation. He wants the word Prim to disappear from the East Bohemian watches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He points to the fact that both companies, because of the legal disputes, have created logos for their wristwatches that look graphically different from the original historical one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prim watches used to bear only a square PRIM inscription. The four letters stand horizontally, the line on the “P” and “R” slightly falls short. It is precisely this original logo for which Hanko now holds a valid trademark. In the past, due to the disputes, he almost stopped using it. Instead, he put an arched version of the Prim logo on his watches, which was originally created for mechanical clocks and alarm clocks. He also holds a trademark for this version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both companies are also engaged in disputes abroad. Elton hodin\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e1 registered its own trademark Manufacture PRIM 1949 with the EU Intellectual Property Office in Alicante, Spain. According to Milan Kozel, General Director of Elton hodin\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e1, nothing will change in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “MPM-Quality has already attempted several times to have the European trademark Manufacture PRIM 1949 for watches cancelled at the European EUIPO office and at the EU General Court, but always without success. Elton hodin\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e1 therefore has repeatedly confirmed that it has the right to use the Manufacture PRIM 1949 logo, and the Supreme Administrative Court ruling cannot change this fact,” says Kozel. This case continues in Luxembourg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to him, Elton hodin\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e1 does not intend to stop labelling watches with the word Prim. He has not yet studied the latest ruling, which could be pivotal. “We will wait with our reaction for a legal analysis. However, what is crucial is that the decision on a possible re-registration of the trademark for MPM-Quality does not in any way affect our rights to mark our wristwatches with the designation PRIM,” Kozel is convinced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MPM-Quality chief Hanko disagrees, however: “We want to stop the distribution of Prim watches from Nov\u00e9 M\u011bsto nad Metuj\u00ed. I won’t take away the fact that they have some production there, but they’re not called Prim. They’re called Elton.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dispute over the Prim brand<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25fc Elton hodin\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e1, the watch manufacturer from Nov\u00e9 M\u011bsto nad Metuj\u00ed in East Bohemia, uses the Prim logo as the legal successor. It is the heir of the state enterprise Elton, entrusted with watch production, which became independent from the state enterprise Chronotechna in 1969. Author: Mark\u00e9ta \u0158eh\u00e1kov\u00e1
\u25fc The Fr\u00fddek-M\u00edstek company MPM-Quality purchased the Prim brand in 2001, when watch production in East Bohemia was collapsing. It was sold to them by the company Eutech \u2014 the successor of the state enterprise Chronotechna, which managed the watch production plant in Nov\u00e9 M\u011bsto nad Metuj\u00ed between 1949 and 1969.
\u25fc The Supreme Administrative Court has now confirmed that the word and figurative trademark Prim, which the Industrial Property Office declared invalid six years ago, is valid. The trademark is owned by the company MPM-Quality.
\u25fc The essence of a trademark is that only its owner may use the protected designation on products. Other companies are required to refrain from using it. This may represent a key turning point in the entire case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: Hospod\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e9 noviny, 27 November 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/new.prim-hodinky.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/HN-Vikend_27-29_listopad_2020-642x1024-1.webp\")
<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_link_to_original":""},"class_list":["post-45389","aktualita","type-aktualita","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n