Laugh it Off won't back off

2003-12-11 11:27

Cape Town - Cape town T-shirt company Laugh It Off was back in court on Thursday, fighting a demand that it put up security for its coming Supreme Court of Appeal hearing.

Laugh It Off is challenging a Cape High Court ruling earlier this year that one of its satirical T-shirts infringed the Black Label trade mark of beer giant SABMiller.

However the multinational brought an application in the High Court on Thursday, demanding that Laugh It Off put up security of R350 000 before the case is heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal.

It said in papers that it was clear Laugh It Off would not be able to pay SABMiller's costs if it lost the appeal.

In weighing up the application for security, the court was required to consider the injustice to Laugh It Off if it was prevented from pursuing an appeal because it could not come up with the cash, against the injustice if SABMiller was successful in the appeal hearing and was unable to recover its costs.

If this discretion was properly exercised, there would be no violation of the constitutionally entrenched right of access to the courts.

Laugh It Off 's senior counsel Peter Hodes said SABMiller had allowed his client to incur substantial expenses in getting the appeal under way before demanding security.

SABMiller was trying to "cut my client off at the pass" and to make sure the appeal was not heard.

SABMiller was a multinational giant, "and in the interests of freedom of expression one would have thought it would like to know the answer to this application", he said.

He told Judge Roger Cleaver that he did not have the power to order Laugh It Off to furnish security, and asked that SABMiller's application be dismissed with costs.

Cleaver said he would give judgment on Friday morning.

- SAPA