A court has slapped a temporary ban on the sale and production of lead-acid batteries by a new manufacturer in Uganda amid a trademark spat.
Lead-acid company Nile Batteries Limited (NBL) entered the African nation’s battery-producing market last year— but has been served with the temporary ban, following claims its product infringes on a trademark registered and owned by rival Uganda Batteries Limited (UBL).
UBL marketing director Moses Zizinga told journalists his company had sought the ban from the High Court’s commercial division to safeguard protected features of its batteries and halt what he claimed was “confusion” in the market.
Zizinga claimed NBL’s batteries were “identical to those of UBL in design, shape, logo, and sizes”.
The dispute comes just days after Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, formally commissioned an NBL battery-making facility in the country’s Jinja Municipality.
NBL reportedly told local media that it was “engaging with those involved to settle the issue”.
