High Court dismisses lawsuit filed by chalk manufacturing firm

Kenya: The High Court has dismissed a suit filed by a school chalk manufacturing company and a distributor seeking to bar State agencies from seizing its omega dustless chalk consignment over copyright rows.

High Court judge George Odunga dismissed the case by Omega Creative Industries (1993) Ltd and Chemical and Schools Supplies Ltd saying the court could not issue a remedy which would later be futile upon the conclusion of a suit filed by the two companies before the registrar of trademarks seeking to expunge the name ''Omega Dustless Chalk' 'from the trademark list.

The trademark was allegedly registered by Omega School Boards and Accessories Ltd back in 2008, two years after the two were disallowed to register the same name.

''The court must take cognisance of the fact that the substantive dispute herein revolves determination of proprietorship of the trade marks in dispute. Unless that issue is resolved any orders granted by this Court will only resolve the "symptoms" while leaving the "ailment" in place. Which is premature at this stage to dwell on,'' Justice Odunga ruled.

In the case the court heard that Omega Creative Industries (1993) Ltd, a company in Israel was the manufacturer of Omega Dustless Chalks and had been producing at its factory in Jordan and selling the same internationally for over 20 years.

On the other hand, Chemical and School Supplies Ltd was said to have been importing from Jordan based company and exclusively distributing the chalk to various outlets within the East and Central African Region for the last 20 years.

It was the case by the two (Omega Creative and Chemical and Supplies) that between 2004 and 2006 the latter tried to register Trade mark "Omega Dustless Chalk" which was rejected because it was already registered by a Swiss Watch Manufacturer being Trade Mark "OMEGA" across all the Classes including the said Class 16.