Fibre Link Limited v Star Television Production Limited [2015] KEHC 7584 (KLR)

Trademark Infringement Detail

Trademark Infringement

Fibre Link Limited v Star Television Production Limited [2015] KEHC 7584 (KLR)

Parties
Fibre Link Limited v Star Television Production Limited
Court
High Court of Kenya at Nairobi (Milimani Law Courts)
Bench
Justice R.E. Aburili
Tags
Trademark opposition Appeal (procedural)
Date
2026-08-26

Facts

Fibre Link filed TMA No. 65503 for "STARPLUS" in Class 38 (telecommunications); Star Television opposed. During those proceedings, Star Television separately applied to register an identical mark, initially rejected then advertised; Fibre Link's opposition to that advertisement was dismissed by the Registrar on 7 February 2012, prompting Fibre Link's appeal and an application for stay plus admission of additional evidence.

Issues

Whether to grant a stay of the Registrar's negative (refusal) order pending appeal, and whether to admit additional documentary evidence on appeal.

Rule

Civil Procedure Act ss.1A, 1B, 3A, 78; Civil Procedure Rules Order 42 rr.27-29, Order 22 r.25; Ladd v Marshall [1954] (three-condition test for fresh evidence); Wanjie v Sakwa [1984] KLR 275; Standard Ltd v Wilson Kalya CA App NRB 369/2001; Butt v Rent Restriction Tribunal [1982] KLR 417.

Analysis

The court held a negative order (refusal to register) has "nothing positive to execute" and thus cannot be stayed — granting a stay would be futile. On additional evidence, the court found the applicant failed to show reasonable diligence in obtaining the documents earlier and could not use submissions to patch up weak points, since pleadings and submissions are not evidence.

Conclusion

Notice of Motion dismissed in full — no stay granted, no additional evidence admitted; costs to the respondent in the main appeal.

Ruling available at kenyalaw.org.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

The IP Case Law Database is a repository of case briefs summarising rulings and judgments related to intellectual property law in Kenya. It covers various types of IP, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, and more.

The database is open to legal practitioners, researchers, scholars, and students interested in the field of intellectual property law in Kenya. It is designed to be a useful tool for anyone seeking to understand the legal precedents that shape IP law in the country.

The database features cases across all areas of intellectual property law, including copyright infringement, trademark disputes, patent issues, and cases involving industrial designs and utility models. It also includes cases related to collective management organisations and royalty collection.

We aim to update the database regularly to ensure that it contains the latest rulings and judgments. New cases are added as soon as they are available to keep our users informed about the latest developments in IP law.

Yes, the database is fully searchable. You can search by case name, type of intellectual property, legal issue, or court decision. This allows you to quickly find relevant case briefs based on your research needs.

Each case brief includes key details such as the facts of the case, the legal issues at hand, the court’s ruling, and a summary of the legal analysis. This structure helps users quickly understand the critical points of each ruling.

In addition to the case briefs, we provide links to full-text judgments where available. This ensures that users can access the complete legal reasoning and details if they need more in-depth information.

To cite cases from our database, you should follow standard legal citation practices. Each case brief includes the official case reference, making it easy to include in your legal documents or research papers.

At this time, the database is curated by legal experts and researchers. However, we welcome suggestions for cases to include or features to improve the platform. Please contact us through our support page if you have feedback or suggestions.