Brand name exemption under Notification 175/86-C.E. is not denied by mere display of a distributor's logo on cartons.

Use of another company's logo on cartons did not, by itself, attract the exclusion in paragraph 7 of Notification No. 175/86-C.E. The governing test under Explanation VIII is whether the goods bear a name or mark used in relation to the goods to indicate a trade connection with an ineligible person. On the stated facts, the distributor's logo and marketing particulars on the carton were insufficient, because there was no material that the distributor used the brand name of the goods or marketed identical goods under that brand. Mere prominence of the distributor's name for marketing purposes did not defeat the exemption.

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Issues: Whether the use of another company's logo on the cartons of the specified goods disentitled the manufacturer from exemption under Notification No. 175/86-C.E. by attracting paragraph 7 read with Explanation VIII.

Analysis: Paragraph 7 denies exemption where the manufacturer affixes the goods with the brand name or trade name of another person who is not eligible for the notification. Explanation VIII makes the test one of use of a name or mark in relation to the goods for indicating a connection in the course of trade with that person. The presence of the distributor's logo and marketing particulars on the carton, without any material that the distributor also used the brand name of the goods or marketed identical goods under that brand, did not establish that the goods were affixed with another ineligible person's brand name or trade name. Mere prominence of the distributor's name for marketing purposes was insufficient to invoke the exclusion.

Conclusion: The exemption under Notification No. 175/86-C.E. was available to the manufacturer, and denial of the benefit on the basis of the distributor's logo was /unsustainable in law.

Ratio Decidendi: Exemption under paragraph 7 of Notification No. 175/86-C.E. is denied only when the goods themselves bear the brand name or trade name of another ineligible person in a manner indicating a trade connection with that person; mere display of a distributor's logo or marketing name, without use of that person's brand name for the goods, does not attract the exclusion.

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