WATCH: MK party ‘riding on the coat-tails’ of the ANC’s history and legacy’

The African National Congress (ANC) legal team has argued that the logos of the governing party and UMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK) party are so similar that they will confuse voters when they get their ballot paper on election day.

Scores of ANC and MK party supporters gathered outside the Durban High Court on Wednesday where the ANC brought a copyright infringement application against former President Jacob Zuma’s new political formation the MK party.

The ANC has asked the MK party to stop using the logo and trademark.

Watch ANC and MK supporters outside court

Confusion

The ANC’s legal team argued that people seeing the two logos will confuse them when they go to cast their ballots in the national and provincial elections.

“Parties campaign for four or five months for a reason. The entire campaign trail is about the education of voters. The confusion and deception is going to arise long before they get into the ballot box.

“It is arising through speeches and utterance and use of this mark which is telling [voters] that when they see that mark on the ballot paper and they put their tick next to it, that will be vote for one of the [rooms] of the ANC,” said the ANC lawyer, Gavin Marriot.

He said the MK party was using a completely similar mark.

“The colour is irrelevant. What’s important is that the warrior has been used for many years. The symbol is similar to the party that is well known. Similarity is sufficient.  MK is using a mark that is so similar that it will be associated with the ANC.”

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Riding on coat-tails

The lawyer said the ANC has “done the heavy lifting” by organising and taking control and responsibility of its military wing uMkhonto weSizwe and through its efforts and the efforts of people has generated extensive goodwill in the logo. This he argued was the basis on which the party’s trademark case was anchored.

“What MK seeks to do is ride on the coat-tails of the ANC’s heritage and to ride all the way into parliament. They don’t have their own history or legacy and so they’re riding on the coat-tails of the ANC’s history and legacy in order to achieve the same advantage which the ANC enjoys as a result of its history.

“That’s where the dilution of the value, the advertising value, power of attraction, prestige and repute that vests in this mark is being diluted,” said the lawyer.

Today’s proceedings follows Tuesday’s ruling by the Electoral Court, which dismissed the ANC’s bid to have the MK deregistered as a political party.

ALSO READ: WATCH: ANC loses bid to deregister Zuma’s MK party