Commercial Court Division
songs, I find a sum of UShs. 50,000,000/= suitable award as
damages.
The Plaintiff claimed for exemplary damages.
Exemplary damages
carry a punitive aim at both retribution and deterrence for the wrong
doer and others who might be considering the same or similar
conduct.
Exemplary damages may be awarded in two cases:
First where there is oppressive, arbitrary or unconstitutional action
by the servants of the government and secondly where the
Defendant’s conduct was calculated to procure him some benefit, not
necessarily financial, at the expense of the Plaintiff.
Rookes V
Bernard [1964] AC 1129
In the instant case, there was a financial gain by the Defendant. It
would have been understood if the Defendant had stopped the use of
the Plaintiff’s intellectual property when they were first informed of
the infringement on 2nd September 2010.
But the Defendant
continued the use upto 13th October 2010. This Court takes judicial
notice of the fact that intellectual property rights in Uganda are not
well observed. Stella Atal V Ann Abels Kiruta HCCS 967/2004
The perpetrators do not take into account the trouble that the
producers of this intellectual property pass through to produce them.
So when they were told that they are infringing, their refusal to stop
can only be referred to as impurity. For such infringement therefore
where the infringer is making a financial gain from his breach,
exemplary damages would be appropriate.
HCT - 00 - CC - CS - 373- 2010
Considering all the
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