Cayman Trade Mark Spotlight: Jacques Scott

Kate Cleary, an Intellectual Property Manager at HSM IP, reached out to Peter Dutton, Managing Director at Jacques Scott to get his feedback on registering his trade mark in the Cayman Islands.

HSM IP is a specialist intellectual property law practice based in the Cayman Islands and protects creative works (trade marks, patents, copyright, designs and domain names) throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.

Jacques Scott, established in 1962, is a fine wines and spirits retailer. In April 2024 the company unveiled a new logo. The new logo still features the beloved cluster of grapes, which signifies the key ingredient of world-class vintages. The grapes design was refreshed to be more contemporary and received the addition of ‘1962’ to recognise that they have been trading for over 60 years.

What inspired Jacques Scott to register their trade mark?
Even before the logo rebrand, Jacques Scott placed priority on their previous logo by registering it in the Cayman Islands with HSM IP. Jacques Scott’s previous logo had been with the company for over 25 years. While a recognizable symbol in the Cayman Islands, it was time for a refresh. As part of their commitment to their brand Jacques Scott reached out to HSM IP to update and register their rebranded logo.

HSM IP encourages brand owners to ensure the latest versions of their trade marks are duly registered to maximise their level of protection and ensure all channels of legal recourse are available should a third party attempt to use or register a confusingly similar mark. In such cases, even small or minor differences can be of vital importance.

Why is registering your trade mark important to you?
Peter Dutton: “To protect the brand and logo, which are very important to us.”

Jacques Scott employs over 130 staff members and has opened three new stores in the past five years including a revamp of their airport duty-free location. With such growth, it is important to protect the brand to help foster brand loyalty with not only their staff but with its customers. Thanks to Cayman’s thriving tourism industry, a brand with a strong reputation locally in the Cayman Islands is likely to be exposed to an international audience. Registering a trade mark provides local brand owners with a degree of comfort that their brand is protected under the law.

How did you find the process of registering your trade mark?
Peter Dutton: “Lengthy but fairly straightforward. I appreciate HSM IP’s guidance throughout the process.”

A trade mark agent with extensive experience in registering trade marks in the Cayman Islands is an invaluable asset to businesses seeking to protect the rights in their brand. With over 100 years of combined experience, the HSM IP team is uniquely placed in Grand Cayman to offer tailored advice and assistance throughout the registration process, from providing pre-filing advice and conducting clearance searches, to preparing and filing the application, monitoring the progress of the application and generally making the registration process as seamless as possible.

What would you say to other businesses who are thinking about registering their trade mark?
Peter Dutton: “While ultimately, it is a business decision, it is worth looking into and provides peace of mind.”

The peace of mind includes a defense to an infringement action. The registration of a trade mark can deter others from seeking to profit from the good reputation of an established brand, as well as offering legal recourse in the event of third parties acting in bad faith. More details as to why you should file a trade mark in the Cayman Islands may be found here.

It is always recommended to conduct a trade mark search before committing to a brand to ensure that a similar/identical trade mark is not already owned by a third party in respect of identical/similar goods and/or services. In this case, HSM IP were the trade mark agents for Jacques Scott’s existing trade mark registrations and were able to assure Jacques Scott that there were unlikely to be any issues with the registration of its updated logo. Searching the Registry of Trade Marks affords the brand owner the opportunity to re-consider its (re-)branding if it transpires there are earlier conflicting registrations.

HSM IP understands the importance of a logo or name as an asset in driving loyalty and maintaining a competitive advantage in an often crowded marketplace. We are committed to safeguarding intellectual property to ensure ideas and creations are secure, protected and able to flourish.

Photo supplied by Jacques Scott. Photo credit: Cayman Compass.