ISLAMABAD: For violating Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) imposed Rs20 million fine on Dawn.
The CCP issued an order imposing a fine of Rs20 million on M/s A. Rahim Foods (Private) Limited (Dawn Foods) for copying the product packaging and labelling of M/s K&N’s Foods (Private) Limited (K&N’s) frozen and/or processed meat products. A bench comprising Vadiyya Khalil, Chairperson, Dr Shahzad Ansar, Member Office of Fair Trade & Advocacy, and Ikram Ul Haque Qureshi, Member Cartels & Trade Abuses, and Legal, passed the order.
The order disposes off the proceedings arising out of the show cause notice issued to Dawn Foods after a CCP inquiry found it to be in prima facie violation of Section 10 of the Competition Act. CCP had initiated the enquiry into the matter pursuant to a complaint filed by K&N’s.
The issue before CCP bench was whether Dawn Food’s packaging and labeling of their frozen and/or processed meat products was deceptively similar to that of K&N’s product labeling or packaging. Other allegations against Dawn Foods made by the complainant were that Dawn Foods’ use of the term ‘Combo Wings’ amounted to fraudulent use of K&N’s trademark, and that this was capable of harming K&N’s business interests.
CCP found that Dawn Foods had violated Section 10 (2) (d) of the Act by resorting to ‘parasitic copying’ or ‘copycat packaging’ of K&N’s products, with the result that ordinary consumers could be deceived into purchasing Dawn Foods products by confusing them with K&N’s products. It was found that this was misleading and deceptive by its very nature and would lead to the eventual dilution of K&N’s brand identity and goodwill that it had built over the years. As for the use of the term “Combo Wings”, CCP found that although Dawn Foods was not in violation of Section 10 (2) (d) of the Competition Act, since the term “Combo Wings” was not registered with the Intellectual Property Organization.
