of others. A trademark, therefore, is an indicator of source. It does not tell what the goods or services are, but where they come from. Trade mark protection is granted to trade dress – the packaging or overall look and feel of what constitutes a person’s product or services. At the scheduling conference, it was agreed that the two defendants have been importing a product called Kanta Hair dye into Uganda since 2000. It is also an agreed fact that the plaintiff is the registered owner of a product called Kanta. The issues are: 1. Whether or not the get-up of the plaintiff’s product and that of the defendants is the same. 2. Whether the plaintiff’s product has been on the market prior to that of the defendants. 3. Whether the plaintiff has acquired substantial good will and reputation in its product. 4. Whether or not the defendants are passing off the product as that of the plaintiff. 5. Whether the plaintiff is entitled to the remedies sought. Representations: Mr. Andrew Bagayi for the plaintiff. Mr. Siraje Ali for the 1st and 2nd defendants. As to whether the get-ups of the two products are the same, I have had opportunity to see the packaging of the plaintiff’s product (hereinafter conveniently referred to as ‘Kanta 1’) and the impugned product (Kanta 2). ‘Get-up’ can simply be defined as the visual features which distinguish a trader’s goods, most notably, the packaging of the goods. In cases where trade mark infringement is alleged, infringement occurs when a suspected infringer uses a mark for goods or services identical or closely related to those of the plaintiff. The test of infringement is likelihood of confusion. Likelihood of confusion is the probability that a reasonable consumer in the relevant market will be confused or deceived, and will believe the infringer’s goods or services come from, or are sponsored or endorsed by, the complainant or that the two are affiliated. Infringement thus is analogous to the tort of fraud. The duty of the Judge in a case such as this is to decide, upon seeing the goods, whether the plaintiff’s goods so nearly resemble the ones complained of as to be likely to deceive or cause confusion in the minds of the public. 2