ERJ Archives: Frank Reddaway 1891

A few years after the publication of this advert in 1891, Frank Reddaway Ltd was involved in a court battle that led to a landmark decision in the House of Lords.

The Manchester-based company had sued a former employee George Banham, who had set up his own company to make what it also called 'Camel Hair Belting'.

Reddaway claimed that this product description was particular to its machine belting, and recognised by a large proportion of people in the market as such.

The case went up to the English Court of Appeal, which ruled that the name was purely descriptive and so could not be protected,

The House of Lords, however, overturned this decision on the basis that the public clearly regarded 'Camel Hair Belting' as a Reddaway product.

The Lords decision, back in 1896 , set an early legal precedent for the protection of product names in the market.