The World Alliance of Young Men’s Christian Associations has petitioned the Civil Division of the High Court challenging the decision of the Registrar of the Uganda Registration Service Bureau (URSB) to allow proceedings of registering the trademark of the Uganda Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA).
The World Alliance of Young Men’s Christian Associations through their lawyers led by Kajubi Brian of MMAKs Advocates claim that it was illegal for the URSB to allow the registration of YMCA trade mark after receiving a protestation letter from their side confirming that their relationship was suspended in 2002 and YMCA membership with their clients was revoked in 2010 due to an unresolved dispute.
The plaintiff claims that due to revocation of the membership, the institution lost the license and the authority to use the words YMCA citing article 8.2.2 of their constitution which requires an affiliate association to cease using the trademarks of their client upon their ceasing to be a member.
According to court documents, on 27th February 2020, YMCA applied to URSB for registration of the mark “UGANDA YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (YMCA) and a Logo for “Education and religious services” in class 45 under number UG/T/2020/067455 which was published in the gazette on 14th August 2020.
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However it was opposed by the World Alliance of Young Men’s Christian Associations on grounds that it was confusingly similar to its registered mark number UG/T/2020/68118 “YMCA” with the role of operating in the sector of providing training, entertainment, sporting and cultural activities, arranging and conducting of classes, conferences, seminars and workshops, production of educational material, coaching (training), religious education, organization of exhibitions for cultural or educational purposes, sport camp services, holiday camp services (entertainment), organization of sports events and sports, competitions, timing of sports events, provision of sports facilities, gymnastic instruction, physical education, rental of sports equipment not including vehicles, rental of stadium facilities, health club services (health and fitness training), providing recreation facilities, provision of sports information, production of audio and or video recordings, production of radio and television programmes; production of shows, providing on-line electronic publications (not downloadable), publication of electronic books, journals and multimedia material on-line, publication of texts (other than publicity texts) and publication of magazines.
The objection was dismissed by the Registrar on 1st December, 2023 and YMCA trademark was subsequently registered on 3rd April 2024 which forced the mother organization to petition the High Court claiming that the decision was wrongly reached.
In their submission, the mother organization explained that it is the oldest and largest youth focused movement in the world, founded in Switzerland in 1884 with affiliated member associations in 120 countries.
They added that it was registered in Uganda as the owner of YMCA trademark vide number 68118 and also registered in other 120 countries including in Kenya, Zambia, Sudan and Zimbabwe.
The mother organization insisted that in 2017, it was registered as a proprietor of the same trade mark in Switzerland its country of origin.
They disclosed that they were shocked to learn that the trademark was also registered by YMCA Uganda.
In their defence, YMCA through their lawyers led by Chrysostom Katumba of Lukwago & Co Advocates protested against the petition explaining that it is a company incorporated under the laws of Uganda, and a chartered institution of higher learning providing vocation and skills training to youths and has been providing these services in Uganda since 1986.
YMCA successfully secured a victory at the URSB after Denis Birungi the Assistant Registrar of Trademark ordered the cancellation of the mother organization’s trade mark issued and further directed that they should compensate YMCA legal costs including for time spent in the fight against it before the URSB.
