Durban - A Kokstad business owner caught selling counterfeit baby diapers under a protected trademark logo has been ordered by the Pietermaritzburg High Court to stop infringing on the rights of the registered trademark owner.
Chen Lu Fragrances, the registered trademark owner of Sunfree baby diapers, operating out of Durban North, brought an application to interdict Samson Berhe Tesfazghi, the owner of Samuel’s Shop in Kokstad, to stop him from selling and distributing the counterfeit diapers.
In terms of a court order granted by Judge Rashid Vahed, Tesfazghi is also directed to hand over all documents relating to his dealing in the offending goods, and to disclose his source from which the goods were obtained, and any information relating to the manufacture, importation, distribution and sale of the goods to Chen Lu Fragrances.
The police, who seized the counterfeit diapers from Samuel’s Shop last year, have also been ordered to deliver the offending goods to Chen Lu Fragrances. Chen Lu Fragrances is the manufacturer and distributor in South Africa of a range of disposable diapers which bear the Sunfree logo.
According to court papers, during a private investigation by Chen Lu Fragrances in September last year at Samuel’s Shop, it came to light that the establishment was selling and distributing the counterfeit disposable baby diapers bearing the Sunfree trademark.
On December 28 last year a search-and-seizure operation was conducted at Samuel’s Shop premises and 2 079 counterfeit diapers were seized. Chen Lu Fragrances maintain that Tesfazghi infringed its rights and would cause them to suffer damages.
They contend the counterfeit diapers imitate the protected goods in such a manner and to such a degree that the offending goods are substantially identical copies of the protected goods.
Daily News