Ngern Tid Lor to seek ban on use of Srisawad trademark by rival firm
NGERN TID Lor Co, which is engaged in microfinance and auto refinancing business under the Srisawad Ngern Tid Lor (Srisawad Money on Wheels) brand, will next week seek authority from the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court to force
The petition follows a 2010 order by the Central Intellectual Property court of first instance for the owner of Srisawad Power, now known as Srisawad Power 1979, to withdraw the Srisawad trademark because the owner intended to use the word “Srisawad” to deceive customers.
In 2012, Chatchai Kaewbootta, who now is both a major shareholder and chief executive officer of Srisawad Power 1979, appealed against the ruling. On Tuesday, while court was scheduled to issue its verdict on the appeal, Chatchai sent his daughter Doungchai, managing director of Srisawad Power 1979, to inform the court that the company wanted to change its lawyer. This caused the court to postpone the verdict.
This also prompted Ngern Tid Lor to plan to seek the Central Intellectual Property Court’s authority to allow the company force Srisawad Power 1979 to stop using the Srisawad trademark and logo at its branches.
“While waiting for the [appeal] verdict, we will ask the court again to order Srisawad Power 1979 to comply with the court of first instance’s verdict in 2010,” said Manida Zinmerman, a lawyer at Hunton & Williams (Thailand) who represents Ngern Tid Lor.
On Monday, Doungchai also reported to the SET that her company had never been sued by Ngern Tid Lor and the company’s marketing mark and trade name was “Mee Baan Mee Rod Ngern Sod Than Jai”.
Ngern Tid Lor Co, formerly known as CFG Services, used the trademark and logo of Srisawad Ngern Tid Lor after AIG acquired the trademark of Srisawad from Chatchai Kaewbootta, who now is both a major shareholder and chief executive officer of Srisawad Power 1979.
The troubled trademark case dates back to 2009, when Ngern Tid Lor complained that Srisawad Power used its trademark and logo in conducting a similar business and many customers thought it was Ngern Tid Lor.
Piyasak Ukritnukun, managing director of Ngern Tid Lor, told a press briefing yesterday that, in the five years since the judgement, the company had not taken any action even though Srisawad Power later changed is name to Srisawad Power 1979 and listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
However, Ngern Tid Lor this year has received complaints from customers about debt collection. The company found that they were customers of Srisawad Power 1979, because Srisawad Power 1979 continues to use the Srisawad trademark and logo at its branches, making customers confused.
“The trend of complaints is increasing, so we thought that we should protect our reputation because we explained to society that we are not a company affiliated with Srisawad Power 1979,” he said.
The damage to his company is beyond estimation and he doesn’t want to see this case become a civil case, but he wants to clarify that this case is a matter of trademarks, which should not create any confusion among customers.
Srisawad Power 1979 can use Srisawad as the name of company but the company must not use the Srisawad trademark or any logo that causes customers to misunderstand that Srisawad Power 1979 is the same group as Ngern Tid Lor, the lawyer said.
