A London-based company, Miss World Ltd, and two Dublin businesswomen have secured a High Court injunction preventing a Limerick-based company and its director passing off any of its events as the Miss Ireland pageant.
Miss World Ltd, together with Ms Margaret Humphries and Ms Andrea Roche, organised last year's Miss Ireland event, which was won by Ms Rosanna Davison. Ms Davison went on to win the Miss World title.
The plaintiffs had sought the injunction, which continues pending the outcome of full proceedings, against Miss Ireland Beauty Pageant Ltd, O'Connell Street, Limerick, and a director of that company, Mr Kieran Murray, Iona Drive, North Circular Road, Limerick.
Miss Justice Laffoy also yesterday granted an interlocutory injunction to the plaintiffs requiring the defendants to cease operating any business under any name or style consisting of or including the term Miss Ireland, on consisting of or including any other "confusingly similar name" or otherwise to cease all use of the term Miss Ireland in connection with their business.
The judge said the matter clearly required an early hearing.
She listed the case for mention on April 1st next with a view to obtaining an early date for the full hearing.
The Miss World Ltd organisation, which is headed by Ms Julia Morley, had claimed that a series of agreements, under which the Miss World organisation had allowed the defendants to organise the Miss Ireland event, had ended in May 2002.
The defendants had argued that Miss World Ltd had no exclusive rights to the Miss Ireland name.
They also claimed there was no Miss Ireland trade mark as such but a "device mark" which appeared to be used by Miss World Ltd on an international basis.
In an affidavit, Ms Morley, of Golden Square, London, said that if the defendants were allowed to trade under the Miss Ireland name without restraint pending the full trial of the action, the damage to her side would be irreparable.
While Mr Murray had run the Miss Ireland competition from 1997 until 2002, Miss World Ltd always considered him to be either actually or in reality their franchise, as distinct from any company incorporated by him, she added.