Trademark Suit Collapses Over Unpaid Expert Fee as Court Rejects Claim

The Dubai Court of First Instance has thrown out a prominent trademark infringement lawsuit after the claimant failed to deposit Dh60,000 for a court-appointed expert, resulting in the loss of his right to rely on technical evidence and an inability to substantiate his claim.

The court held that the claimant forfeited the benefit of the expert committee’s appointment due to non-payment of the required deposit, dismissed the case in its current form, and directed him to bear all legal costs and expenses.

The dispute was initiated by the owner of a registered trademark in the UAE spanning several categories, including leather goods, travel accessories, clothing, footwear and headwear. He sought a court order restraining the defendants from using, importing, selling, displaying or storing products bearing his trademark or any deceptively similar mark, and to eliminate all instances of unauthorised use.

The claimant alleged that the defendants had unlawfully exploited his trademark by marketing counterfeit goods and using the mark in advertisements both inside and outside their premises, amounting to a violation of his commercial rights.

To substantiate his claims, he submitted trademark registration certificates, the defendants’ trade licences and images of the disputed products. However, the defendants contested the case on procedural and evidentiary grounds, arguing that the material presented was inadequate, raising a lack of legal standing against one party, and pointing to the absence of original proof of infringement.

Owing to the technical complexity of the matter, the court appointed a specialised expert committee to assess trademark ownership, history of use, similarities between the marks, the likelihood of consumer confusion, and whether any direct or indirect imitation had taken place. The court set an expert deposit of Dh60,000 to be paid by the claimant within a specified timeframe. However, the claimant failed to comply and instead sought to restrict the assignment to a single expert at a reduced cost — a request the court declined for lack of legal basis.

The court ruled that failure to pay the expert fee without a valid reason results in forfeiture of the right to rely on the expert appointment, thereby obstructing the technical assessment required to determine the dispute. It emphasised that the burden of proof rests with the claimant and that liability cannot be established without clear and convincing evidence, while the presumption remains in favour of the defendants.

In the absence of expert findings, the court found that the documents submitted alone were insufficient to establish infringement in a complex trademark dispute.

Accordingly, the court concluded that the claimant had failed to prove his case and dismissed the lawsuit, directing him to pay all associated costs.

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