Government of Pakistan is most of the time criticized for contradicting steps and measures. Same is the situation in the departments of the government. One department says something that is totally contradicted by the other department and quite opposite orders are passed on the same matter from different departments.
Example is Trade Mark Registry, Intellectual Property Organization IPO, Government of Pakistan has ordered the word ” Supreme” as laudatory word and in public domain for Foam, Mattresses, Spring Mattresses and Furniture products etc. As per the said order all foams, mattresses, furniture manufacturers are allowed to use word Supreme along with their trademarks. According to the details, the decision was taken by trademark office under section 14-1 (c) of the Trademark Ordinance 2001 as Supreme describes the character and quality of goods. Hence no monopoly rights can be given. Trademark Registry allows or disallows trademarks registration.
The Competition Commission of Pakistan, on the other side, follows a policy that the words like Supreme, Super, Superior, NO-1 etc can not be used as brand names because they are self boasting and fall into Deceptive Marketing.
IPO in above mentioned order has explained that the word “Supreme” describes the quality and character. That is why it can be used by all. In a similar case on 15 Aug 2017 The Competition Commission (CCP) passed an order imposing a penalty of PKR 10 million on Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd. for running a deceptive marketing campaign for one of its products, ‘Max All Purpose Cleaner’ (Max APC), in violation of Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010.
CCP received a formal complaint from Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan Limited stating that the marketing campaign run by Colgate-Palmolive for its product Max APC was making deceptive/false claims i.e., ‘24 hours long lasting freshness,’ ‘99.9% bacteria free,’ ‘Protects against cold and flu, skin infections, food poisoning,’ and it kills 99.9 % bacteria from surfaces leaving floors and household surfaces clean, shiny and germ free, along with a disclaimer reading, ‘based on laboratory testing with concentrate usage.’
We can see that Colgate-Palmolive was doing the same thing: Describing the quality and character of their product.
On 15 March 2021,(CCP) issued Show Cause Notice to Unilever Pakistan Limited for prima facie violation of Section 10. Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan Limited sent a formal complaint that Unilever Pakistan Limited was distributing false/misleading information by making absolute claims regarding its products, Lifebuoy Soap, and Hand wash.
The enquiry report concluded that Unilever Pakistan Limited was harming other undertakings’ business interests and misleading consumers by making absolute claims regarding the abovementioned products. Some of the claims were: “100% guaranteed protection from germs”, “World’s No. 1 germs protection soap”, and “99.9% germ protection in 10 seconds.” The disclaimers about these claims were printed in tiny fonts and were hardly noticeable.
Tazeen Akhtar
