By A. J. A. Abeynayake

CHINT Group Corporation has been granted an interim injunction order by the Colombo Commercial High Court recently, against infringing party Chint Power Solutions (Pvt) Ltd, a wholesale supplier selling electrical products bearing marks identical to or confusingly like the trademark owned by Chint.

The infringing party, Chint Power Solutions (Pvt) Ltd was initially appointed as a distributing agent for Chint Group in Sri Lanka and was importing and distributing CHINT branded electric switches and sockets in Sri Lanka. However, during this period, the infringing party was also engaged in selling and marketing electric switches and sockets bearing a mark reading CHINT Power in a manner which is misleadingly similar to the plaintiffs, Chint Group’s products a CHINT power solutions Pvt Ltd while acting as the local distributor of the CHINT Group surreptitiously registered Chint Power trademark under classes 9 and 11 at the national intellectual property office in Sri Lanka, without the knowledge and consent of Chint Group Corporation.

Since the Chint trademarks of the plaintiffs were not registered in Sri Lanka and could not be registered without nullifying the purported registration of the Defendants, and Plaintiffs filed this action in Commercial High Court under unfair competition and further sought relief to nullify the purported registered trademarks of the Defendants.

Commercial High Court Judge Pradeep Hettiarachchi granted an interim injunction against Chint Power Solutions Pvt Ltd and its Chairman and Managing Director Mr. Sivapaadam Rukhlan and two others who have acted in collusion with the said parties in registering and selling products of the plaintiffs and preventing them from using the mark Chint Power.

Chint Group Corporation was represented in Court by Counsel Manoj Bandara AAL and Thivanka Hettiarachchi AAL instructed by Sudath Perera Associates.