The High Court has banned a company from selling Durex products until a sales dispute between two firms is heard and determined.
The LRC company, a United Kingdom-incorporated organisation that owns the products, has sued Metro Pharmaceuticals Ltd over the sales dispute.
Justice Francis Gikonyo issued temporary orders stopping Metro Pharmaceuticals from trading or selling the products. Gikonyo said the evidence produced in court by LRC had established the need to stop the latter from trading in them.
He said it had been demonstrated that Durex products were manufactured and sold by LRC Products Ltd, a sister company to Reckitt Benckiser Services Kenya Ltd.
Through lawyer Chris Masika, LRC said there is a risk if the pharmaceutical company is not stopped from importing the products.
These imports, he told the court, are being sold in Nairobi, Thika and other major towns in Kenya without permission from LRC. His client, he further argued, is a registered trademark owner of the products that include Durex condoms.
"The LRC Company is the duly registered trade-mark owner of Durex products and no other company can purport to import its products and offer the same for sale and distribution," Mr Masika said.
He said he would produce evidence to show how Metro Pharmaceuticals imported the said products in total disregard of the law governing trademarks.
The move by the pharmaceutical company to import and distribute the products around the country is illegal and an unfair business practice, Masika said.
Gikonyo directed that the relevant documents be filed and the parties served before the matter is heard on July 27.
