Founding and continuous use
- 1987: Telegraph Online was founded by Jaffa Levy Raza, originally as the Disability Telegraph BBS, a digital news service enabling blind and disabled users to access news via Braille machines and speech synthesisers. It was described as “online” because it transmitted content by telephone line through early modems operating at speeds of 300 to 1200 baud, using the first wave of affordable home computers such as the Sinclair ZX80/81, Sinclair Spectrum, BBC Micro, Commodore 67, and Amstrad PCW. These systems, linked to external modems, allowed information to be uploaded and downloaded long before the internet was widely available.
- 1989: Prior to the widespread use of the internet, the service developed into Telegraph Online, evolving from its BBS roots into a broader digital news provider.
- 1990: The service began publishing its news for blind readers in parallel with its BBS service, further developing into the Telegraph Online Newspaper. As the World Wide Web emerged — proposed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, with the first browser and server going live in 1991. Moving beyond dial-up bulletin boards, Telegraph Online adapted the service for the Web, making Telegraph Online one of the first news outlets worldwide to publish via the World Wide Web, years before mainstream newspapers followed.
- 1993: Alongside the growth of Telegraph Online, Jaffa also founded Disability Times, which operated from the same Regent’s Park premises. Disability Times drew its editorial foundation from Telegraph Online and became a campaigning civil rights newspaper. Its later editor received an MBE for services to disabled people, recognition that highlighted the impact of the publishing ventures of the Telegraph Online.
- 1994: The service expanded fully onto the web, operating as one of the earliest digital news services of its kind.
This makes Telegraph Online the first British born-digital online newspaper, predating the Telegraph Group’s Electronic Telegraph launch in 1994.
Distinction from print newspapers
At the time, “newspaper” referred exclusively to printed broadsheets. Telegraph Online explicitly described itself as an online newspaper — a new category distinct from print. This distinction was emphasised in disclaimers published in every issue.
Independence and disclaimers
From the outset, Telegraph Online prominently stated:
“Telegraph Online is not associated with the Daily Telegraph. We are associated with other independent titles including The Disability Telegraph, The Asian Telegraph, and New World, which provide a voice to London’s ethnic minorities and Britain’s disabled people.”
This disclaimer safeguarded independence and rebutted any suggestion of passing off.
Priority over Telegraph Group
- The Telegraph Group launched its online edition in 1994 under the name Electronic Telegraph.
- Only after Telegraph Online had been operating for years did the Telegraph Group subsequently register the mark Telegraph Online.
- Under s.5(4)(a) Trade Marks Act 1994, a trade mark is invalid if its use could be prevented by the law of passing off. By that date, Telegraph Online had already accrued substantial goodwill, making Telegraph Group’s later registration contestable.
Passing off and reverse passing off
- Telegraph Online was the senior user of the name in the digital space.
- When Telegraph Group later styled its own service as Telegraph Online, it risked misleading readers into believing the national paper’s online edition was connected with the established Telegraph Online.
- This amounts to reverse passing off: a later entrant appropriating the goodwill of an established service.
Legal correspondence (1997 & 2010)
- On 3 June 1997, Telegraph Online (via editor Jaffa Levy) responded to a letter from Lewis Silkin solicitors acting for Telegraph Group.
- That response documented:
- Prior use since 1987.
- Development into Telegraph Online in 1989.
- Domain registration and online publishing from 1990.
- Disclaimers published in every issue.
- The independent character of Telegraph Online.
- The argument that Telegraph Group’s Electronic Telegraph was the newcomer, not Telegraph Online.
- Prior use since 1987.
- Following this, Telegraph Group did not pursue litigation. Instead, they approached on several occasions to ask whether Telegraph Online wished to sell.
- In 2010, further concerns over reverse passing off were raised directly with Sharon Playford, Company Solicitor of Telegraph Group Ltd, regarding the adoption of the description “Telegraph Newspaper Online”. A formal letter was sent from Telegraph Online Newspaper (dated 2 May 2010, from Regent’s Park premises), objecting to the striking resemblance between that name and Telegraph Online Newspaper. The letter stressed that the change from Electronic Telegraph to Telegraph Newspaper Online risked confusion, eroded the distinctive identity of Telegraph Online, and could mislead readers and third parties. That correspondence remains in our archives.
Current position
- Telegraph Online asserts continuous and uninterrupted prior rights from 1987, founded and directed since inception by Jaffa Levy.
- Telegraph Group’s later registrations and rebrandings post-date that use and cannot extinguish the goodwill already accrued.
- The brand remains legally defensible under passing-off principles, bad-faith registration doctrines, and the historical distinction between print newspapers and online newspapers.
Legal Summary
- First use: 1987 (BBS service).
- Development: 1989 (Telegraph Online); 1990 (domain registration, early online publishing, and transition to the World Wide Web).
- Expansion: 1993 (Disability Times founded from same Regent’s Park premises; later editor awarded MBE).
- Founder: Jaffa Levy Raza (commonly referred to thereafter as Jaffa).
- Goodwill: accrued nationally and internationally before Telegraph Group’s online ventures.
- Law: s.5(4)(a) TMA 1994 confirms that later registrations are subject to prior rights.
- Defence: Telegraph Online has always operated independently, with published disclaimers, and is entitled to continue as senior user.
- Claim: Telegraph Group’s later adoption and rebranding risks reverse passing off.
⚖️ Telegraph Online’s position is clear:
Founded in 1987, developed into Telegraph Online in 1989, and publishing online from 1990 (adopting the World Wide Web at its inception), we are the first British born-digital online newspaper.
We hold senior rights by virtue of prior use.
We have always maintained independence from Telegraph Group.
Any assertion to the contrary disregards the factual record and settled principles of UK trade mark and passing-off law