Can The Stand use Assembly's name?

Edinburgh operator's trademark bid

The saga of The Stand comedy club taking over Assembly Rooms venues at next year’s Edinburgh Fringe has taken another twist after it emerged that the company ousted from the premises has applied to trademark the name ‘Assembly’.

Assembly Theatre, the company founded by William Burdett-Coutts that has run festival shows in the venue for 30 years before clashing with the city council the current facelift, applied to protect the name ‘Assembly’ in December 2009.

The application is being disputed – though it is not clear by whom – but if successful it could severely hamper The Stand’s ability to trade on the Assembly name, even though it will be operating in the Assembly Rooms.

Martin Sloan, an associate with Scottish law firm Brodies, highlighted the situation on his blog.

He wrote: ‘If the application is successful then it could might stop the new operator of the Assembly Rooms prominently using the word “Assembly”, even though the operator called “Assembly” no longer promotes shows there (are you still with me?).

‘Just to further confuse matters, articles celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Assembly Rooms show that the venue and its former operator are very much entwined in the mind of the public (this is unsurprising; there has only been one operator), which means that even if the trade mark application isn’t successful then Assembly might still argue that it has goodwill in the word, and that prominent use of “Assembly” by Salt n Sauce [the company behind The Stand] is passing off.’

The application seeks trademark protection in the areas of printed matter, clothing, retail services, marketing and restaurants as well as entertainment. So a granting of the trademark could have some impact on other venues in Assembly Halls – such as those in Derby, Newcsatle. Ludlow, Tamworth and Bath – as well as places like the Assembly bar in Edinburgh’s Bristo Square.

Mr Sloan said the application ‘shows the importance of ensuring intellectual property is considered in all commercial arrangements, even in such mundane things as property leases.’

He concluded: ‘Given all this, it will be interesting to see how Salt n Sauce will brand its new venue – Stand @ The Assembly Rooms makes it sound like they forgot to order enough chairs.’

It was announced on Wednesday night that the Stand will run four spaces in the Assembly Rooms at the 2012 fringe, including the large Music Hall and Ballroom. Two other former theatre spaces will become shops.

Assembly Theatres – whose hub has now moved to George Square because of the £9.3million refit work – had been a bitter opponent of the council’s plans for the historic venues, protesting vociferously against the loss of performance spaces and offering to do the work itself in return for long-term security.

Published: 1 Jul 2011

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