New move to remove judge from Gap trademark dispute

According to a report in The Weekender, Basson refused to recuse himself from having anything further to do with the bitter trademark battle, saying he saw nothing wrong in writing a judgment exclusively from heads of argument on one side of a legal dispute. At issue in a dispute that has lasted eight years is entitlement to use of the trademark ‘Gap’ in SA. Basson had ruled against The Gap in a judgment delivered on May 28. On Friday, the US company and Stuttafords asked that Basson stand down. In particular they didn’t want him to hear their application for leave to appeal, notes the report. The reasons they offered relate to the way the judge wrote his decision, among other issues. They claim that of the 102-page judgment, 96 pages were taken verbatim from the main and replying heads of argument by Salt of the Earth. Not a single argument advanced by The Gap or Stuttafords was reproduced, nor any of its heads of argument, they allege. Moreover, nowhere in the judgment does the judge himself consider any of The Gap’s arguments, nor explain why he rejects them. Where The Gap’s argument is considered, it is in Salt of the Earth’s wording, in the section reproduced from their court papers. Full report in The Weekender