Three South African calendar manufacturers say they will fight Fifa in court over the soccer body's claim that it has trademark rights to the date "2010". 
We are obliged to act in the interests of our licencees, who have paid substantial amounts of money to share in the branding around the cup 
The dispute, which has been simmering since the beginning of the year, came to a head last week when Fifa's marketing arm issued the businesses with lawyers' letters demanding a total of R2.7 million in royalties.
Fifa maintains that use of the date for commercial purposes, such as in calendars, is a breach of the special legislation approved last year to protect its branding ahead of the world cup.
However managing director of Cape Town publishing firm Paragon, Goolam Allie, said on Thursday that the claim was "spurious".
"They are definitely chancing their arm," he said. "We have spoken to our lawyers, and we will fight them all the way."
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