Court Orders CAC to Deregister Firm Over Trademark Infringement
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, to deregister MDC Havels Products Ltd from its registry of companies over a trademark infringement against Havells India Ltd.
Havells India Ltd, a world-renowned electrical and electronics manufacturer and owner of global brands like Havells, Lloyd, Reo, Crabtree and Standard had dragged CAC and MDC Havels Products Ltd before the court for unauthorized use of its ‘Havells’ trademark.
In a motion filed before the court, Havells India Ltd urged the court to declare MDC Havels Products Ltd’s use of “Havells’, as an infringement against its prior trademark as protected by copyright law.
Ruling on the matter, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa upheld the prayers of the plaintiff and ordered CAC to immediately expunge MDC Havels Products Ltd from its registry of companies to the extent that the brand name was unlawfully and illegally procured and amounts to a breach of Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020.
The court also awarded the plaintiff N50million in damages and granted a perpetual injunction restraining the defendant from further using the Havells or MD Havells or any other name by commercializing, advertising or promoting any other goods under such name.
The court further ordered CAC to deliver up for destruction all infringing product or goods that MDC Havels Products Ltd may commercialise or brand under a name or mark confusingly similar to Havells India Limited brand.
Reacting to the ruling, the management of Havells India Ltd said, “This monumental decision not only reaffirms our dedication to maintaining the highest standards in the electrical goods industry but also serves as a pivotal milestone in safeguarding its intellectual property rights in the Nigerian market.”
