High Court Allows Sting Trademark Battle to Proceed, Orders PepsiCo Joint

The High Court has cleared the way for a high-stakes trademark battle over Sting, one of Zimbabwe's most popular beverages, after dismissing key preliminary objections raised by Varun Beverages (Zimbabwe) and ruling that global drinks giant PepsiCo must be joined to the dispute. In a detailed judgment, Justice Joseph Chilimbe ruled that African Distillers Limited (Afdis) was entitled to pursue its bid to cancel Varun's "STING (LABEL)" trademark registration .

Afdis, a major local beverages manufacturer, had approached the Commercial Division of the High Court seeking the deregistration of Varun's 2018 trademark STING (LABEL), arguing that it infringes on Afdis' earlier STING trademarks registered in 2003 for alcoholic beverages. Sting has since become a household name in Zimbabwe's drinks market .

The court rejected Varun's preliminary objections, finding that Afdis was entitled to bring the matter before the Commercial Court and that the use of disputed court forms was "an obvious inadvertence" in the rules rather than a fatal defect. On the crucial issue of PepsiCo's involvement, Justice Chilimbe agreed with Varun that the multinational had a direct and substantial interest in the outcome of the case .

The court exercised its discretion to keep the dispute alive, ruling that PepsiCo must be formally joined to the proceedings so the matter can be fully and fairly determined. The matter will now proceed with PepsiCo joined as a party, with costs reserved for determination at a later stage .