Head of the Yello Media Group Ian Neita has welcomed the court ruling affirming his company’s right to the ‘Yello’ brand.
He says it shows that the Jamaican justice system appreciates the value of intellectual property.
Last month, Yello Media obtained a default judgment in a case it brought against Global Business Directory Sole Proprietorship (GBD), an entity based in Lithuania, an eastern European nation.
GBD did not file a defence.
“We feel very good about the outcome of this one particularly because we value and treasure significantly, our brand, our copyright and all our intellectual properties,” said Neita.
Supreme Court judge Cresencia Brown Beckford, among other things, ordered GBD to take all steps necessary to assign to Yello Media, the registration of the domain name www.jmyello.com, and any other domain name containing the word ‘Yello’.
GBD has also been barred from using, relying on or purporting to exercise any rights over the word ‘Yello’ without the approval of Yello Media.
He said losses suffered by his company have not yet been calculated as his company is awaiting the written judgment.
Yello, a Cayman Islands-incorporated entity that operates in 11 Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, filed its claim in the Supreme Court on January 28 last year.
Yello, which used to be Yellow Pages before its rebranding in 2018, provides advertising services to businesses and professionals and publishes a directory with basic information such as names, addresses and telephone numbers.
The company contended that in every instance of contracting with clients or through digital or physical advertisements, it has used the word Yello and an associated symbol called the walking fingers logo.
Yello pointed the court to three actions of GBD it said were done to mislead the public – the registration and use of the domain name www.jmyello.com; offering advertising services on the website and the prominent display of ‘Yello’ on the website.
Those activities were calculated to lead members of the public to believe that GBD’s services are those of Yello Media Group, the company said.
“The mark ‘Yello’ was adopted by the defendant with the deliberate object of causing deception,” the media group said of GBD.
The lawsuit was initiated 16 days after a customer reportedly mistook GBD’s website for Yello’s and telephoned to report an error.
Meanwhile, ‘Yello’ said it has been granted provisional trademark rights in Jamaica to use the word ‘Yello’ and associated colours.
Senior attorney-at-law, Kevin Powell, from the law firm Hylton Powell, led arguments for the Yello Media Group.
Because of GBD’s failure to file a defence, Yello Media applied to the court on June 22, 2021 for a default judgment which was granted on February 28.
Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com
