ST ANDREWS LINKS TRUST CLAIMING OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN WORDS!
FROM EWAN McKAY
Director, St Andrews Internmational Golf Club
Pleased to
report that construction of the course designed by Tom Weiskopf will commence at
Feddinch by the middle of March.
Given your
interest in golf, I feel the attachment and the following may be of some
interest to you.
The company, registered as ST ANDREWS INTERNATIONAL
PRIVATE MEMBERS GOLF
CLUB LIMITED, has recently been
embroiled in a dispute with ST ANDREWS LINKS
TRUST over its
claim that it has privileged rights to use the words
‘ST.ANDREWS’,
‘GOLF’, when related specifically to golf at St.Andrews, ‘THE
HOME
OF GOLF’ and ‘THE OLD COURSE.’
Danny Campbell, Commercial Director, invited a delegation
from the
company to his office to advise us that the Trust had rights to such
words and that we would need to not only change the name of our
golf club, ST
ANDREWS INTERNATIONAL GOLF CLUB,
(SAIGC) but also of our domain name, www.standrewsigc.co.uk.
We were advised that the Trust would defend their rights
vigorously
as they had signed trading licences with several overseas companies
and they would not jeopardise such agreements.
One questions what right does the Links Trust have to
claim
ownership of the aforementioned words?
The company had been known as SAIGC for 20 years and
could not
understand such an aggressive attitude from Danny Campbell
particularly as SAIGC was to be strictly for the enjoyment of its
privileged
members and their guests so there could be no conflict or
confusion with the
activities of the Links Trust.
The trademark dispute continues, however it is most
pleasing that the
World Intellectual Property Organisation, (WIPO) has found in
favour of the company so clearly that must put into question the
rights claimed
by the Links Trust.
Interestingly, it has come to light that the Links Trust
is also in
dispute with the Old Course Hotel Limited, and with St.Andrews
Golf Club Company, which was established some 130 years ago
over its trademark
application. Allegedly, the Links Trust settled a
dispute with the R and A, over
the use of the phrase ‘ Home of Golf’
and one can only assume that the Links
Trust must have spent several
hundred thousand pounds in legal fees which must
surely put into
question its charitable status. It is interesting that it is
represented by
an international law firm, Nixon Peabody, which is likely to be a
costly association.
Would the money not have been better spent had its
landlords, Fife Council, used the funds to save the Byre Theatre and allow the
re-opening of Craigton Park?
Given that Danny Alexander claimed they would finance
whatever it cost to protect its rights, one must surely question why the
Trustees have agreed to this.
SAIGC was taken aback at the level of activity within
the Trust as it shares the view of many that the Trust was set up specifically
to oversee the operation and maintenance of the golf courses and facilities on
the Links, not to enter into associated business activities.
The Links Trust is now akin to a commercial conglomerate
in that it has property for merchandise retail, food and beverage outlets and
international licence agreements and one wonders how the Trustees could have
sanctioned such activities which appear to be well outside the original mandate
and which must conflict with business activities within the town.
There is no doubt that the quality of course presented
by the Links Trust is of the highest standard however, and to the best of one’s
knowledge, none of the local businesses benefit by way of tee-time allocations
and one wonders why that should be when it would surely be of long term benefit
to all businesses if co-operation in the marketing of St. Andrews and golf was
established
Ewan
McKay
Director SAIGC
.
Labels: GOLF NEWS
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