Top brands close year with high profile copyright disputes

Tabitha Karanja CEO Keroche Brewaries displays a bottle of of Summit Malt at a pasty event. She is one of the business owners nominated to be feted as Kenya’s influential personalities during the country’s celebration of 50 years of Independence. Photo/FILE  NATION MEDIA GROUP

 

By GALGALO FAYO

In Summary

• Legal experts attribute the prominence of the suits to a rise in competition and the need to protect future income streams through their unique products and services.

Copyright and trademark disputes hit a peak this year as companies and individuals raced to protect their works and brands.

Safaricom, New York-listed Time Warner, Mumias Sugar, Keroche Breweries and spaghetti firms Santa Maria were in court over alleged intellectual property infringements.

Legal experts attribute the prominence of the suits to a rise in competition and the need to protect future income streams through their unique products and services.

“There is increasing commercial pressures, and those who come up with an idea want to protect it,” said John Ohaga, managing partner of Triple O Advocates — commercial law firm.

“It’s about profit and protecting the next generation of income,” he added.

 

Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore with general manager, financial services Betty Mwangi-Thuo during the launch of Lipa na M-Pesa product in Nairobi in June. FILE  

In court, the legal suits has centred on the fight to protect sales and brand valuations.

This is what took Mumias Sugar to court when it accused Option Two Limited of importing and packaging sugar in the it’s sachet dubbed ‘Mumias Brown Sugar Natural Sweetness ’.

The listed firm claimed that the alleged passing off of its product had hit it sales as the miller races to reverse the 25.5 per cent drop in revenues to Sh14.9 billion for the year ended June.

Kenya is faced with counterfeit goods including sugar, tea, alcohol and cigarettes passed off as fast-selling brands with Kenya Association of Manufacturers saying its members lose Sh70 billion annually from the imitations. Mumias managed to stop Option Two.

Keroche Breweries Limited was also in court on similar grounds. It claimed Tona Millers was manufacturing ready-to-drink Viara Ice, which is almost similar to its alcoholic drink Viena Ice.

Keroche Breweries won the battle to stop Tona from manufacturing, advertising or selling an alcoholic product with a similar name to its Viena Ice.

 

Safaricom is also locked in court fight with a musician popularly known as JB Maina who sued it alongside other firms for allegedly using 10 of his songs as ringtones through its “Skiza” and “Surf 2 Win Promotion”

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“Globalisation and Internet has made it easier for companies to keep track of their products,” says Anne Munene, lead consultant at Intellectual Property Assets Consulting. “Many companies are keen to protect their brand from threat of dilution.”

This increased flow of information led New York-listed Time Warner to sue a local sweets manufacturer, Kenafric Industries, for using its cartoon trademarks in a legal battle that will test the application of global copyright laws in Kenya.

The firm through its TV unit, The Cartoon Network Inc, wants Kenafrica stopped from wrapping its sweets with packages branded BEN 10 –which is a flagship cartoon channel of the US giant.