Evolym & Evolve: Not Similar, My Love

There's nothing ground-breaking in the most recent Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) trade mark judgement, Yair Shimansky v Browns the Diamond Store (1 December 2014). What there is, however, is a concise and useful summary of the law as regards that most fundamental of questions – when is a trade mark confusingly similar to an earlier trade mark?

The case involved two jewellers. Shimansky, the owner of five jewellery stores, has a registration in class 14 for jewellery for Evolym, a trade mark that he uses for engagement rings and wedding bands. When Shimansky found out that his much bigger rival, Browns (some 20 stores), was selling men's wedding bands called Evolve he sued for trade mark infringement. He lost his case in the Cape High Court and he took that decision on appeal.