The Appellant, an American corporation that manufactured and distributed hair care products and cosmetics, was the proprietor of South African trademark 84/6404 registered in part A of the register in respect of goods in class 3. In December 1990, the Appellant noticed that the Respondent (a South African close corporation in the same business as the Appellant) was marketing some of its products using a mark, "S­Curl" ("the mark"), thereon which it considered an infringement of its registered trademark. The Respondent was formally requested to desist from using the mark. Pursuant to a refusal of such a request, the Appellant, in 1992, applied for an interdict restraining the respondents from infringing its trademark. The Respondent sought the expungement of the Appellant's mark in terms of sections 16(1) and 33(1) of the Trade Marks Act 62 of 1963 ("the Act"), alternatively, an order directing the entry of a disclaimer of "any right to the exclusive use of the term 'S­Curl' apart from the special representations depicted in the mark". The Respondent contended that the mark denoted a particular hairstyle and that various manufacturers of hair products had used the term descriptively on their products. The court a quo refused the respondent's main counter­application but ordered the entry of the disclaimer sought. The main application was dismissed. The Appellant appealed against the dismissal of the main application and the granting of the alternativecounter­application. The Respondent cross­appealed against the refusal of the main counter­application.