Brand name exclusion from SSI exemption applies when a mark indicates trade connection with another person.

Small-scale industry exemption under Notifications Nos. 1/93-CE and 16/97-CE is unavailable where goods bear another person's brand name or trade name. Clause 4 and Explanation IX exclude specified goods if the mark is used to indicate a commercial connection in the course of trade. The controlling principle is strict compliance with exemption conditions: if the assessee affixes a third party's brand on its goods to project association with that person, the exclusion applies. On the stated facts, use of "TATA ACE" was treated as signifying connection with a Tata company, attracting the bar on exemption.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to small-scale industry exemption under Notifications Nos. 1/93-CE and 16/97-CE when the goods bore the mark 'TATA ACE', and whether use of 'TATA' as part of the brand indicated a connection with another person so as to attract the exclusion in the notifications.

Analysis: Clause 4 of Notification No. 1/93-CE and the corresponding provision in Notification No. 16/97-CE deny exemption to specified goods bearing the brand name or trade name of another person. The expression 'brand name' in Explanation IX covers any name or mark used to indicate a connection in the course of trade between the goods and some person using that name or mark. The controlling principle is strict compliance with the exemption notification. Where an assessee affixes another person's brand name on its goods with the intention of indicating a trade connection, the exemption is lost. On the facts, the mark 'TATA' did not belong to the assessee, and its use was not merely fortuitous or purely descriptive; it signified a connection with a Tata company and projected the goods as associated with that company.

Conclusion: The assessee was not entitled to the exemption, and the bar under Clause 4 read with Explanation IX was attracted. The view taken by the Tribunal was incorrect and the Revenue succeeded.

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