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or her satisfaction by the person the application for registration that the mark is
identical with or nearly resembles a trademark which is already registered in
respect of;
a)
the same goods
b)
the same description of goods;
c)
in a country or place from which the goods originate.”
It is therefore the defendants’ case that prior registration of the PANASUPER trademark by the
2nd and 3rd defendants in China, WIPO and AIPO invalidates the subsequent registration by the
plaintiff of the same PANASUPER trademark in Uganda. This court was urged to find that the
renewal of the certificate of the suit trademark by the plaintiff was unlawful, null and void and
the same should not be condoned by this court as was held in the case of Uganda Broadcasting
Corporation vs Simba (K) Ltd Civil Appeal No. 12 of 2014.
I have carefully considered the above submissions as well as the documents relied upon by the
parties. It is not in dispute that the 2nd defendant is the registered proprietor of the suit trademark
in China having registered the same on 7th February 2003. What is in dispute is whether the said
company by a power of attorney dated 15th February 2007 authorised the plaintiff to register the
said trademark in Uganda in its name. The answer to this issue in my view lies squarely on the
construction of the power of attorney given to the plaintiff as well as some other documents
relied upon by the plaintiff like the OEM Agreement whose validity is even challenged by the
defendant.
I will first deal with that OEM Agreement which according to the plaintiff recognised its
ownership of the suit trademark. That agreement was executed on 8th November 2006 when the
application for registration of the suit trademark which was filed on 3rd August 2006 and
advertised in the Uganda Gazette of 4th August 2006 was still pending due to an objection
application that was filed against the registration of the mark by M/S Matsushita Electronic
Industrial Co. Ltd of Japan. The objection application was determined in favour of the plaintiff
and the mark was accordingly registered on 13th May 2008 but according to section 21 (1) (b) of
Cap. 217 the trademark upon its registration was deemed to be registered on the date of
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