Brand name exclusion under small-scale exemption does not apply to goods made exclusively for a customer and not sold as market-branded goods.

Small-scale exemption under Notification No. 175/86-C.E. was not denied merely because HDPE sacks bore the buyer's brand name. The brand-name bar in para 7 applied only where the mark indicated a connection in the course of trade with another person not eligible for exemption. Where goods were manufactured exclusively for a particular customer, carried that customer's name or logo, and were not traded in the market as branded goods, the exclusion did not operate. On those facts, the assessee remained eligible for the small-scale exemption.

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Issues: Whether small-scale exemption under Notification No. 175/86-C.E. was available when HDPE sacks were manufactured solely for supply to a buyer and bore the buyer's brand name.

Analysis: Para 7 of Notification No. 175/86-C.E. denied exemption where specified goods bore the brand name or trade name of another person not eligible for exemption, and the Explanation defined brand name as one used to indicate a connection in the course of trade. The Board's clarifications and circulars, read with prior Tribunal decisions, distinguished between goods merely carrying a customer's name or logo for supply to that customer and goods traded in the market as branded goods. Where the goods are made only for a particular customer and are not traded, the brand mark does not establish the kind of trade connection contemplated by the notification. On the facts, the sacks were manufactured exclusively for the cement company and were not market-traded goods.

Conclusion: The buyer's brand name on the HDPE sacks did not attract para 7 of Notification No. 175/86-C.E., and the assessee remained eligible for the small-scale exemption.

Ratio Decidendi: Brand name exclusion under a small-scale exemption notification applies only when the mark indicates a connection in the course of trade; a customer's brand printed on goods manufactured solely for that customer, and not traded in the market, does not deny the exemption.

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