Julia Farrugia
ONE Productions Limited has no other option but to literally paint the town red: MaltaToday Midweek can reveal that the Malta Labour Party will be re-naming its mobile telephony subsidiary “redtouch fone”, instead of One Mobile Ltd.
Last week One Telecom won a prohibitory injunction against ONE Productions, after the court ruled that the One Telecom brand name had been registered before that of the MLP’s mobile telephony service, and observed that two brands with the same name would create confusion in the market.
This meant that ONE Productions had to scuttle their original plans, including the already printed material and merchandising featuring thousands of sim cards, top-up vouchers, starter packs, stationery, artwork and advertising material, all bearing the ‘old’ logo.
The ‘One’ logo has now been ditched, and in its place ‘redtouch fone’ will soon pop up on our screens.
Although some might be tempted to interpret this as a classic case of ‘What’s in a name?’, the whole exercise will nonetheless cost the company a five-digit figure.
Dr Michael Vella Haber, managing director of ONE Productions, could only confirm “during the past days all the merchandising, simcards and top-up vouchers had to be re-ordered.”
“We mean business and this is definitely not a closed chapter,” Vella Haber insisted.
“We will be definitely following this issue up legally,” he added, hinting that ONE Productions shall be soon appealing the verdict in Court.
Michael Vella Haber said that despite having to face all these hurdles, ONE Productions is determined to launch its new telephony service on time.
“Our original plan was to launch our service in the early days of October. We will still stick to our targets. Our loyalty to our customers will stay regardless of the name. We made the name and we will continue making a name in this field.”
But despite the confident tune, people are asking questions. ONE Productions has been using the ‘one’ logo since 1991. It clearly shows that over the years, the MLP’s media company never bothered registering its trademark. Having done this would have avoided hefty bills and lengthy court procedures today.
Michael Vella Haber confirmed with MaltaToday that last year, a representative of One Telecom had requested a meeting with ONE Productions and asked the latter to join them in the mobile telephony project.
“His business plan did not convince us and we did not accept to start a partnership with him,” Vella Haber said.
“We were not ready to let One Telecom exploit the already established name of ONE.”
According to Michael Vella Haber, ONE already enjoyed customer loyalty, and giving room for a new partnership would have meant losing part of a guaranteed financial stake.
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