Godrej Consumer Products Limited v HB Worldwide Limited, Commercial Appeal No. 2 of 2019, High Court of Tanzania, Commercial Division at Dar es Salaam
GodreJ. Consumer Products Limited v HB Worldwide Limited, Commercial Appeal No. 2 of 2019, High Court of Tanzania, Commercial Division at Dar es Salaam
Magoiga, J.
Date of the Ruling: March 22, 2020
Facts
The respondent filed an application for the registration of the trade mark "HIT" in class 5 before the Registrar of Trade Marks. The respondent filed three sets of preliminary objections to the effect that there was no service to the respondent as per regulation 37 of the Trade and Service Marks Regulation; there was non-compliance with section 10 of the Oath and Statutory Declaration Act, [Cap. 34 R.E. 2002]; and section 8 of [Cap. 12 R.E. 2002] as amended by Section 47 of the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendment (No. 2) Act, 2016. The Registrar sustained all the objections and dismissed the opposition.
Holdings
(i) The use of the phrase “unless the registrar otherwise directs” in the context of regulation 37 of Trade and Service Marks Regulation of 2000, insinuates that the word “shall” is not mandatory.
(ii) The sixty days (60) are provided to limit the time within which parties collect evidence to support the opposition by way of statutory declaration upon being served with the counter statement filed under regulation 36 of the Regulations.
(iii) The declarations to be made under the Regulations are governed by the Interpretation of Laws Act, Cap. 1, and not Caps. 12 and 34.
Decision
The Deputy Registrar erred in applying the law; consequently, his orders are reversed except for one ground on the issue of competency of the notice, which was allowed although based on the wrong provision. The Registrar misinterpreted the phrase "shall" in interpreting regulation 37 of the Regulations. The trade mark registration is completed after the Deputy Registrar's ruling is revoked.