CHINT Group gets interim order over intellectual property dispute 

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda
CHINT Group Corporation, a leading global provider of smart energy solutions, has been granted an interim injunction order in the Commercial High Court of Colombo recently against infringing party, Chint Power Solutions (Pvt) Ltd., a wholesale supplier selling electrical products bearing marks identical to or confusingly similar to the trademarks owned by CHINT. 

Founded in 1984, CHINT Group Corporation is one of the largest developers, manufacturers, and suppliers of smart energy technology and equipment. With over 30 years of market presence and a business network spanning over 140 countries, CHINT is a well-known brand in industrial electrics, and the largest low-voltage electrical product supplier in Asia.  

The CHINT brand has been available in the Sri Lankan market for 15 years, particularly its low-voltage electrical products, including CHINT branded circuit breakers, inverters, rail meters, surge arresters, and capacitors and has a strong customer base owing to the high quality and value of the CHINT products. 

The infringing party, Chint Power Solutions (Pvt) Ltd, was initially appointed as a distributing agent for CHINT Group in Sri Lanka, and was importing and distributing CHINT branded electric switches and sockets in Sri Lanka. 
However, during this period, the infringing party was also engaged in selling and marketing electric switches and sockets bearing a mark reading ‘CHINT POWER’ in a manner, which is misleadingly similar to the plaintiffs’ CHINT Group’s products. 

Chint Power Solutions (Pvt) Ltd, while acting as the local distributor of the CHINT Group, covertly registered ‘CHINT POWER’ trademark under Classes 09 and 11 at the National Intellectual Property Office in Sri Lanka, without the knowledge and consent of CHINT Group Corporation.  Since the ‘CHINT’ trademarks of the plaintiff were not registered in Sri Lanka and could not be registered without nullifying the purported registration of the defendants, the plaintiffs filed this action in Commercial High Court under unfair competition and further sought relief to nullify the purported registered trademarks of the defendants.    

Commercial High Court Judge Pradeep Hettiarachchi granted an interim injunction against Chint Power Solutions (Pvt) Ltd, and its Chairman and Managing Director, Sivapaadam Rakulan, and two others who have acted in collusion with the said parties, in registering and selling products confusingly similar to the products of the plaintiff, and preventing them from using the mark ‘Chint Power’.  CHINT Group Corporation was represented in Court by Counsel Manoj Bandara and Thivanka Hettiarachchi instructed by Sudath Perera Associates.