| … ‘Demerara Gold’ lawsuitA Canadian court has thrown out a motion brought by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to stay or dismiss a lawsuit brought by Bedessee Imports Limited over the “Demerara Gold” label.Over a year ago, Bedessee sued GuySuCo,Cheap Jerseys 2018, Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, David Narine, said to be a representative of the corporation in the United States, and various newspapers in Guyana,China NFL Jerseys, including Kaieteur News.Bedessee claimed that the defendants made false statements concerning the business and its products, and disparaged the Canadian and United States trademark “Demerara Gold.”Guyana and GuySuCo had contended that the “Demerara Gold” rightfully belongs to the country. However, Bedessee claimed that it had registered the trademark.The ruling effectively means that the Canadian lawsuit would continue to be heard in the court there, while a similar matter is being heard in a New York, US court, against another Bedessee company registered there.Justice G.R. Strathy, of the Superior Court of Justice, Ontario, Canada, in a June 10 ruling, said the motion by GuySuCo and Minister Persaud raised the issue of whether the doctrine of sovereign immunity applies.Persaud,Cheap Football Jerseys, Bedessee claimed, allegedly made defamatory public statements in which he stated, among other things, that the plaintiffs’ sugar– “produced in Mauritius and sold as “Demerara Gold” with a map of Guyana on the label – was being deceptively marketed as a Guyanese product.”GuySuCo and the Minister had asked that the action be stayed or dismissed against them, primarily based on Canada’s State Immunity Act, R.S.C. 1985,cheap jerseys, c. S-18.That statute provides, amongst other things, that a foreign state or its agency (which would include the Minister) is immune from the civil jurisdiction of a Canadian court except in proceedings relating to either the “commercial activity” of the foreign state or to “damage to or loss of property” that occurred in Canada.GuySuCo, represented locally in Guyana by Cameron and Shepherd law firm, headed by prominent attorney-at-law,Cheap Stitched Jerseys, Ralph Ramkarran, had hired Canadian lawyers Mark Gelowitz and Lauren Tomasich.According to Justice Strathy, neither party was able to provide particular information about the status of the proceedings in New York, nor could they advise whether the defendants in that proceeding were raising this action as a ground for dismissal.A claim for sovereign immunity in the New York litigation has not yet been addressed by the court.“The jurisdiction of this court is not challenged, the alleged libel was published in Ontario, the plaintiffs have suffered damages in Ontario and this action was commenced before the New York action.I propose to dismiss the motion to stay, without prejudice to the right of the defendants to move for a stay should the New York action be permitted to proceed and the parties are unable to agree on measures to prevent duplication of issues and potential inconsistent results.The motion is therefore dismissed, with costs. If counsel are unable to agree on the amount of costs, written submissions may be made to me, care of Judges’ Administration.”Bedessee,CHeap NFL Jerseys China, in its court documents, claimed that Lionel Bedessee came to Canada from Guyana in 1971 and started a retail store selling Caribbean food on Queen Street West in Toronto. From that store, the business then started to operate from a 46,000 square foot warehouse and manufacturing facility in Scarborough.The second plaintiff, Bedessee Imports Inc.,Jerseys Cheap Wholesale, was incorporated on September 23, 1985 to carry on the same business in the United States.Bedessee said its products include raw cane sugar from Mauritius, which it sells under the trademark “Demerara Gold,” a mark it has been using for sugar and other products since at least 1984.The product label contains a map of Guyana. Bedessee also markets a brown sugar product described as “Guyanese Pride,” which also has a map of Guyana on the label. Neither product contains Demerara sugar, court documents said. |
