1. Spirits of Sri Lanka (SOS) manufactures and sells beer in Sri Lanka under the brand name "Extra Special Beer" which is registered as a trademark. 2. SOS promoted Extra Special Beer aggressively and it gained a 10% market share from hard alcohol consumers by having a higher 8% alcohol content compared to standard beers. 3. A new company, Power of Sri Lanka (POS), introduced a beer also called "Extra Special Beer" using similar packaging which SOS believes infringes on their trademark and is unfair competition.

1. Fighting beers
Spirits of Sri Lanka is a brewer and seller of locally manufactured beer in Sri Lanka and leader in the field.
It’s general brand name is “SOS” .It sells a brand of beer under the name “Extra Special Beer” with a
distinctive mark and a get up. This mark is registered in September 2009 under the Intellectual Property
Act No 36 of 2003(IPA).
In the registered trade mark- Their general band “SOS”, Extra Special Beer, and a tough macho man
holding a glass of beer is found in the label.
They have carried out extensive promotional campaign and have established the product very well in
the target market. This beer was intended to take a major component of the market share of the hard
alcohol market in Sri Lanka ( Arrack). Within few years it reached its target and 10% of the Arrack
consumers shifted to this “Extra Special Beer” as it contained more than 8% of alcohol as against the
standard beers that had less than 4% alcohol content.
Power of Sri Lanka, a recently established brewing company also introduced a beer under the same
name “Extra Special Beer” with their own general brand “POS”.
In the registered trade mark- Their general brand “POS” Extra Special Beer, and a macho man showing
thumbs up sign was found in the label.
As a result, SOS is contemplating filing a case against “POS” for the following
1. POS is infringing the SOS’s right as the registered trade mark owner.
2. POS is guilty of unfair competition within the meaning of section 160 of the IPA
However, the cost of litigation would be expensive and time consuming. Therefore, a meeting was
convened by the Managing Director of SOS to have an initial discussion of the possibility of suing SOS
successfully.
The Managing Director says that this is brand name that we developed with a specific target customer in
mind and have spent millions in promoting. We just can’t give the benefit of our brand name to another
new comer who had not spent a cent in developing the brand. He is also using a tough macho character
that we used in the logo although the man looks different. It is misleading and common man will buy
their product assuming it is our product. It is an act of competition contrary to honest trade practices.
We cannot allow this to go on and observe that our market is penetrated by a new comer. We are the
creator of this brand we need to have the exclusive right to use.
On the other hand the view point of the Marketing Manager is that it could be a tough legal battle as
“Extra Special Beer” could be classified description of the goods and it could be argued that no person
can claim exclusive right to the use of such words. He specifically refers to sec 103 (1) b of the IPA.

2. 1. Task one- develop an argument in support of Managing Director
2. Task two- develop an argument in support of marketing Manager