A Kano Federal High court sitting at Gyadi Gyadi has fixed 22nd February for ruling on an interlocutory application on the case of patent rights filed by Coca Cola international against a local Nigerian beverage brand producer, Pop Cola.
The counsel to the plaintiff, Mark Mordi, SAN addressing the court on the interlocutory application, last Monday told the court that the issue before it for determination borders on the labelling of the product manufactured by the defendants.
According to counsel, the plaintiff in the matter is not contesting the bottle’s design; instead, its legal grouse is about the labelling of the defendant’s product, which in legal thinking should be considered by the court as a mix and should be declared thus.
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He further submitted to the court that Pop Cola has no proper documented evidence to show that it acquired the statutory registered trademark certification of Pop Cola from the patent regulatory agencies, further adding that the defendants were yet to be formally issued with a trademark certificate.
The plaintiff also notes that exhibit MBL 2 in the matter is a missive written to Pop Cola by the Nigeria Copyrights Commission, which states that the registration of Pop Cola trademark is still proceeded by the commission, adding that the missive could not translate to Pop Cola trademark ownership.
He averred that all relevant legal authorities would be supplied to the court.
Earlier, counsel to the plaintiff had presented two distinct bottles of beverages to buttress to the court the issue of similarity that is the legal contention between Coca Cola and Pop Cola.
The counsel to the defendants, Offiong Offiong, SAN, said Coca Cola could not claim exclusivity to the use of the word “Cola”, explaining to the court that the word “Cola “ is generic.
He argued that Coca Cola is allegedly hiding under the guise of trademark owners to claim exclusivity to the use of the word “Cola”.
Offiong further told the court that the issue of similarity is hinged on distinctiveness, adding that a mark must be something distinct, which applies to the brand paraded by Pop Cola as against the claim by the plaintiff.
According to him, Coca Cola has not established its case of claimed legal rights over the exclusivity of the stripe crossing on the duo beverages, which is the issue of contention before the court.
He dismissed what he described as appropriation of exclusivity to the use of the word “Cola”, and ribbon on Pop Cola claimed by the plaintiff.
The presiding judge, Hon Justice Nasiru Yunus, declared the matter adjourned to 22 February for ruling on the interlocutory application.
