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Cape Town City naming rights dispute heats up

Cape Town - The dispute over the rights to the Cape Town City name appears to be heating up.

Soccer Laduma founder and CEO, Peter du Toit, believes he owns the rights and that the owners of the newly-formed PSL team unfairly took the name.

Before the start of this season, former Ajax Cape Town shareholder John Comitis purchased Mpumalanga Black Aces' Premiership status and relocated the club to the Mother City. 

He later renamed the club Cape Town City FC and this is when the dispute over the rights to the club’s name started.

"I was the owner of a soccer club by the name of Cape Town City Soccer Club. We played in the Mvela League (equivalent of the NFD) for two seasons and had acquired the intellectual property rights to the name," Du Toit was quoted saying. 

"Comitis approached me during the latter part of 2015 and told me that he wanted to use the name Cape Town City. I advised him, however, that I was not willing to let him use the name as I wanted to use it again myself after I retire from the publishing business."

The CEO further explained: "I told Comitis in good faith that, although I had applied to register the name Cape Town City as a trademark, I had not renewed the trademark and that the registration had lapsed."

Du Toit concluded: "I certainly did not give the name away and it is my intention to now seriously look at relaunching Cape Town City, which means there could be two City’s in Cape Town."

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