Abu Dhabi Bank operates in multiple jurisdictions across five continents.
After almost a decade of litigation and exhausting multiple avenues of appeal, FirstRand has failed in its bid to stop Abu Dhabi Bank from registering its trademarks in South Africa.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissed the banking group’s latest application, ending a dispute that began in 2017 when the United Arab Emirates lender applied to register the trademarks “FIRST ABU DHABI BANK” and “GROW STRONGER FIRST ABU DHABI BANK” as part of its planned expansion into the South African market.
FirstRand opposed the applications after they were advertised, arguing Abu Dhabi Bank had no bona fide intention of using the marks because it neither held nor had applied for a South African banking licence.
The Registrar of Trademarks referred the dispute to the High Court, which dismissed FirstRand’s opposition and later refused it leave to appeal. FirstRand says it's South Africa's oldest bank by virtue of its ownership of First National Bank.
