The Guyana Sugar Corporation is currently engaged in defending its rights to the trademark ‘Demerara Gold’, both in the United States and in Canada against claims made by Bedessee Imports Inc. and Bedessee Imports Ltd, and according to the corporation the fees being charged by the lawyers are moderate and reasonable.
In any event and more so in a case as complex as this one, the fees are nothing close to the US$1,500 an hour as reported by the Kaieteur News in its edition of October 20, 2009, GuySuCo said in a news release yesterday.
The Guyana Government and the Minister of Agriculture are also parties to the litigation in the US.
GuySuCo is maintaining that it has the exclusive right to the trademark ‘Demerara Gold’ and expects to be vindicated in the pending proceedings in furtherance of its strategic plan to develop ‘Demerara Gold’ as a flagship product.
GuySuCo’s lawyers in the US are Foley Hoag LLP, a firm with offices in Washington, DC and Boston. This is the same law firm that successfully spearheaded the case for the Government of Guyana in the maritime boundary dispute with Suriname, the release added.