Petitioner: MUHAMMAD WAHEED Respondents: ADNAN RIAZ and others Decision: Appeal Allowed, setting aside the impugned order of the Tribunal
The Petitioner filed an appeal under Section 19 of the Intellectual Property Organization Act, 2012, challenging the order passed by the Intellectual Property Tribunal, Lahore, which granted a temporary injunction in favour of the respondents, restraining the petitioner from using the trademark until final disposal of the suit.
In this case, the issue related to the rights concerning the business under the name and style Riaz & Sons, which was admittedly established by the father of both the Petitioner and the Respondents. It was also undisputed that both parties had applied for registration of the said name as a trademark in their own names, and those applications were pending. Both parties claimed exclusive use of the trademark. The existence of a partnership arrangement was also an undisputed fact, which clearly showed that both the Petitioner and the Respondents were partners in the firm. From the facts explicated, it was clearly discernible that the issue between the parties related to the use of the trademark Riaz & Sons by both parties, as well as the respective obligations arising out of the partnership agreement.
It was held in the impugned order that the trade name belonged to the partnership firm and not to the individual partners, and that the partnership firm had not been dissolved. The assets of their father, to the extent of 78% of the shareholding, were to be distributed in accordance with the Partnership Act, 1932. Consequently, the Court observed that, having held so, the Tribunal erred in granting an injunction to one of the partners, i.e., the Respondents, restraining the Petitioner from using the trademark until the disposal of the suit. This would have given a free hand to the Respondents to use the trademark to the exclusion of the Petitioner, which was iniquitous and did not fulfill the requirements of law.
The dispute was yet to be determined regarding the use of the trademark and also the right of either party to its use upon registration, for which the applications were still pending. In the meantime, neither party could be restrained from using the trademark to the exclusion of the other. The Tribunal erred in accepting the application of the Respondents. Consequently, the appeal was allowed, and the impugned order of the Tribunal was set aside.