Liquigas calls on Easygas to return withheld cylinders immediately

Liquigas Malta has filed a judicial protest against Easygas calling on it to immediately stop collecting Liquigas LPG cylinders.

It also called on its competitor to return all Liquigas cylinders to the company within four days.

Liquigas distributes LPG in yellow, brown and green cylinders, while Easygas distributes dark grey-coloured cylinders.

In the privatisation exercise, Liquigas inherited all Enemalta Corporation’s yellow and brown cylinders.

It said in a statement that it subsequently started extensive testing of the LPG cylinders, while changing their colour from yellow and brown to Liquigas green.

Since 2009, Liquigas also purchased new green cylinders and these were put on the market.

In its judicial protest, Liquigas stated that Easygas’s behaviour was manifestly illegal and abusive because it constituted a violation of Liquigas’s proprietory rights.

Liquigas said it was also being prejudiced also because part of its stock of cylinders was being withheld at Easygas, causing Liquigas stock of cylinders to shrink.

"The withholding by Easygas of Liquigas cylinders is not only a violation of material property, but also endangers intellectual property rights as the cylinders have the product’s distinctive signs of Liquigas’s colours and service," Liquigas said.

"In a competitive market, it is certainly unacceptable for a company - without authorization and permit - to collect and store containers with the distinctive signs of its competitors."

It was obvious, it insisted, that a company operating in the LPG sector should have total control over its cylinders even for reasons of safety relating to the cylinders in which it sells its LPG.