It looks like SA private defence company Thales Advanced Engineering (TAE) will finally get its day in court after more than two years of wrangling with Thales, the giant French defence electronics group implicated in the arms deal, over the rights to use the name.

TAE, which was established 17 years ago, claims that the French company, previously known as Thomson-CSF, not only infringed on intellectual property rights when it changed its name two years ago, but perceptions that the two companies were linked had damaged the SA's firm's business.

The French Thales is being probed in SA for allegedly paying bribes to state officials in relation to the arms deal. SA investigators raided its Paris headquarters last year.

Legal representatives for the Johannesburgbased company said yesterday that the company would return to Paris in September for a hearing to set a date for their case.

The French company is arguing that TAE never registered the name in Europe, but TAE insists that it conducted business in France for a number of years and does have rights in that country.

TAE also worked with Thomson-CSF on some projects.

TAE has been seeking a settlement with Thales for over two years and an undertaking by the French company to stop using the name.

With acknowledgements to Chantelle Benjamin and the Business Day.