Logo Designs? - Protect by Trademark Registration

Facts: We were approached by a National Sporting Association. There had been a political split at board level and the ex-chairman had gone off and set up a competing association. He had written to the organisation telling then that they could not use the logo that they had used for over 20 years because he had designed it and the copyright in the design was his since it had never been assigned to the Association. Technically, this was correct because ownership of the copyright in any design will belong to the designer unless the designer is an employee or there is a written contract transferring copyright ownership. However, this did not stop the Association filing to register the logo design as a registered trademark which is what they did and which they were perfectly entitled to do since they had used the logo for over 20 years in the UK. For good measure we also protected the logo as a Community Registered Design thoughout the EU.