A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has sentenced to one month imprisonment each, three Indians who are directors of a Lagos-based private company, Sacvin Nigeria Limited, for disobeying its order.
The Three business men are all brothers. One is the Managing Director of the company Chandru Ganglani, and the other two, Bharat Ganglani and Trishul Ganglani are directors.
The expatriates were jailed by Justice John Tsoho without an option of a fine meaning they cannot escape imprisonment except their conviction and sentence are overturned on appeal.
The court jailed the men on the grounds that they disobeyed an interim order made on the 9th of July, 2009 which restrained their company, Sacvin Nigeria Ltd, from engaging in the trade or business of manufacturing and selling or distributing the plastic products which infringed the trademark of another company called, Rike Industries Limited.
Rike Industries had filed the substantive matter before the court alleging the infringement through the act of “passing off” against Sacvin Nigeria Ltd.
The proceedings leading to the conviction of the expatriates for contempt was initiated by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kemi Pinheiro, who filed the proceedings with a supporting affidavit deposed to by another lawyer, Oludayo Ilori.
It was alleged in the affidavit that the Plaintiff in the substantive matter pending, (Rike Industries Limited,) is the sole authorised Nigerian manufacturer of plastic products produced in the design of VIK Singera Basin Mould, VIK road, Neck Mould and VIK Mug Mould which the defendant Sacvin Nigeria Limited imitated, manufactured and sold to Nigerians.
The plaintiff averred that Sometime in June 2009, it discovered that the defendant company was actively selling plastic products which are identical in design to its products as to be mistaken for it.
Rike industries further alleged that it began to experience difficulties in sales as a result of the defendants’ company’s infringement of its rights and later instituted the substantive suit to stop the defendant’s illegal action after which the court granted the interim order of July 9, 2009 restraining Sacvin from any act of engaging in the trade or business of manufacturing and selling or distributing the plastic products which infringed the trademark of the plaintiff.
The directors of the defendant company however allegedly disobeyed the court order and continued to engage in manufacturing, importing, supplying, selling and distributing the said infringing plastic products which are identical to the plaintiff’s product.
Although the lawyer to the three Indian directors, Dan Olowojaiye, had argued that the directors were not personally served and that the contempt was carried out by the company and not the directors, the judge was not impressed and slammed the imprisonment term on the expatriates before adjourning further proceedings till the 20th of April, 2012.
