UK tobacco firm contests court ruling<\/p>\n
Dow Jones, Jakarta<\/p>\n
UK-based Imperial Tobacco Group PLC's Reemtsma unit is appealing
\nan Indonesian court decision stopping the company from selling
\nits Davidoff brand cigarettes in the country, a lawyer involved
\nin the case said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Reemtsma, which is based in Germany, is trying through the
\ncourts to prove that PT Sumatra Tobacco Trading Company, which
\nclaims to own the Davidoff trademark in Indonesia, in fact has no
\nright to sell the cigarettes under that brand, said Gunawan
\nSuryomurcito, Reemtsma's lawyer.<\/p>\n
The Commercial Court last month ruled against Reemtsma's
\npetition to cancel Sumatra Tobacco's right to the trademark.
\nReemtsma has lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court this week,
\nSuryomurcito said.<\/p>\n
Sumatra Tobacco declined to comment for this article.<\/p>\n
Many international brands are produced and sold illegally in
\nIndonesia, where rules to protect trademarks are frequently
\nflaunted.<\/p>\n
The German company signed an agreement in 2001 with PT Gudang
\nGaram, Indonesia's largest cigarette manufacturer, to import the
\nDavidoff brand, with a possibility of later setting up production
\nfacilities locally.<\/p>\n
But Reemtsma found that on trying to register the trademark it
\nwas already held by Sumatra Tobacco, a local company.<\/p>\n
According to Reemtsma's lawyers, Sumatra Tobacco's claim to
\nthe Davidoff trademark dates to the 1980s when it entered an
\nagreement with a Brazilian company to buy the brand. Reemtsma
\nsaid the Brazilian company had no legal right to sell the
\ntrademark and acted in bad faith in entering an agreement with
\nSumatra Tobacco.<\/p>",
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