Comedian Edwin ‘Eddie’ Butita is set to file a suit at the commercial court against online shopping vendor ‘Mall of Africa’ for using his brand name to promote their Black Friday sale without his consent.
This comes after the former Churchill Show comedian last month issued a demand letter to Mall of Africa seeking a written admission of their unlawful commercialization of his brand and an engagement on the amount of compensation.
“On 22nd October 2020 in anticipation of the international Black Friday, you exploited our client’s widely renowned brand to market your business and attract shoppers. While using our client’s brand, you posted promotional content on your social media platforms inviting buyers to visit and shop on your online shops during the Black Friday Extravaganza. You were cheeky enough to tag our client’s handles on all your social media platforms to give credence to your lawful use of his brand,” read part of the demand letter.
But Mall of Africa denied any unlawful act in their use of his name and also reportedly rubbished his demands for compensation prompting Butita to move to court.
“We are going to court. Currently, we are processing court documents which we will be serving Mall of Africa in the next 10 to 14 days. We are seeking compensation for commercialisation of our client’s online brand to market their Black Friday sales without paying for it. We basically seeking damages for our client that could go up to Sh10 million,” said MNO Advocates LLP senior lawyer Okalle Makanda.
The lawyer said they will petition the court to compel Mall of Africa to produce their sales record during this Black Friday period that started on November 27 upon which they will use it to demand compensation.
He mentioned that they have a strong case based on their evidence and the response from Mall of Africa.
“In the letter, they argued that our client’s brand name isn’t a trademark hence don’t warrant any compensation or payment,” he added.
