Background Facts:

M/s. Dabur India Ltd and M/s. Dabur Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd. filed a complaint against M/s. Hilal Foods (Pvt.) Ltd. alleging that the Respondent has violated Section 10 of the Act by entering into Deceptive Marketing Practices by distribution of false and misleading information through its letter dated 02.02.2019 and 14.16.2019 addressed to the Pakistan Broadcasters Association and through two publications carried in daily DAWN and Jang on 17.06.2019, which has caused harm to the business interest of the Complainant.

The complaint asserted that while the ownership of the trademark ‘Hajmola’ was under litigation in between the Complainant and the Respondent, the Respondent had deliberately disseminated false and misleading information that it had exclusive rights to use Hajmola mark causing serious harm to the Complainant. The Complainant referred to an interim order of the Honourable Sindh High Court, which permitted both the Respondents and the Complainant to use the mark ‘Hajmola’.

The Respondent responded to the allegations by asserting that it was the registered proprietor of the trademark ‘Hajmola’ in Pakistan and holds exclusive proprietary rights.

Order:

The Commission noted that the Commission may only proceed where the fact of ownership of trademark, firm name, product labelling and packaging is not in dispute, and that the Commission is not a declaratory forum nor a registration authority to be approached, where there is a dispute as to ownership of trademark. The Commission also stated that there is not a single provision in the Competition Act that empowered it to engage in the determination of the right or legal status of the owner of intellectual property.

Since, the very foundation upon which the Complaint was grounded was an interim order of the Division Bench of Sindh High Court, in order to take cognizance of the matter based on interim orders, the Commission would have to wade through the questions yet to be settled by the Sindh High Court that would require determination of intellectual property rights that are beyond the scope of the Commission. Therefore , the SCN and Enquiry Report were set aside.