“Indian Trade Mark Statistics for December (Fourth Week) 2017, Bengaluru New Tourism Logo, Kamat Hotel Wins Orchid Trade Mark Battle, Lord of the Rings Wine Collection and more Weekly Trade Mark News” brought to you by the Trade Mark Attorneys at BananaIP (BIP) Counsels.
TRADE MARK QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well”- Jeff Bezos
INDIAN TRADE MARK STATISTICS
The Indian Trade Mark Office had picked up the work pace in the last week. The total number of applications published in the trade mark journal has increased by hundred and six percent (106%). There has also been an increase in the total number of registrations granted by hundred and sixty three percent (163%).
Weekly Indian Trade Mark Statistics
| Particulars | Last Week | This Week | Change in % |
| Total Trade Mark Applications Examined by Trade Mark Office | 5114 | 7788 | An increase of 52% |
| Total Applications Disposed through Show Cause Hearings | 4341 | 6524 | An increase of 50% |
| Total Applications Published in the Trade Mark Journal | 8766 | 18133 | An increase of 106% |
| Total Registrations Granted | 3974 | 10465 | An increase of 163% |
| Total Hearing Notices Issued | 10910 | 9348 | A decrease of 14% |
| Total Renewals Notices Issued | 1551 | 2015 | An increase of 29% |
Trade Mark Statistics by Office
Total Number of New Applications Received from December 18th, 2017 to December 26th, 2017
| Sr. No | Jurisdiction | New Applications | Examined | Published | Registered |
| 1 | AHMEDABAD | 823 | 467 | 1422 | 1397 |
| 2 | CHENNAI | 1308 | 718 | 3091 | 1646 |
| 3 | DELHI | 2367 | 1350 | 5037 | 3623 |
| 4 | KOLKATA | 319 | 219 | 790 | 472 |
| 5 | MUMBAI | 1824 | 720 | 4667 | 2687 |
| Total | 6641 | 3474 | 15007 | 9825 |
Yearly Trade Mark Statistics
Trade Mark Statistics from January 01st, 2017 to December 26th, 2017
- Total Number of Trade Mark Applications Filed – 249724
- Total Number of Trade Mark Applications Examined – 154843
- Total Number of Trade Mark Applications Published – 139860
- Total Number of Trade Mark Applications Registered – 299933
INTERESTING TRADEMARK
“I LIKE BIG BUTTER AND I CAN NOT LIE” Trade Mark
An individual named Levy Alan had filed for a trade mark ‘I Like Big Butter and I Can Not Lie’ with the USPTO in class 29 bearing application number 87423662 for butter. The USPTO recently allowed and published the mark where it is now open for possible oppositions.
INDIAN TRADE MARK UPDATES
Kamat Hotel Wins ‘Orchid’ Trade Mark Case
Royal Orchid Hotels Ltd. (Petitioner) v. Kamat Hotels (India) Ltd. (Respondents)
Subject- Trade Mark infringement, Passing Off
Brief Facts: The Petitioner, who is the registered trade mark owner of the mark ‘Royal Orchid’ and ‘Royal Orchid Hotels’ in class 16 since 2005 also filed for the said marks in class 42 which was refused by the Deputy Registrar of Trade Marks showcasing that the Respondents has prior usage over the mark ‘Orchid’. In appeal before the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB), it set aside the order of the Deputy Registrar and allowed registration of the Petitioner’s trade mark in class 42. The Respondent filed a writ petition before the High Court of Madras and the same was allowed. Aggrieved, the Petitioner filed this Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court of India seeking leave to appeal against the aforesaid order of the High Court.
Judgement: Supreme Court dismissed the special leave petition filed by the Petitioner and upheld the order of the Madras High Court restraining the Petitioner from using the word ‘Orchid’ or any logo which is similar to that of the Respondents. Based on the evidence, the Court recognized that the Respondents was the prior user of the mark ‘Orchid’ and the mark used by the Petitioner is similar and passing off on the original. The Court also held that the usage of the mark by the Petitioner would create consumer confusion.
Bengaluru Gets a Logo
Bengaluru, the vibrant city of various cultures, colors and flavours becomes the first city in India to get its own logo. The red and white logo, an initiative of the tourism department is scripted partly in Kannada and partly in English with the letters ‘Be’ and ‘u’ in red color. The logo was launched during Bengaluru Habba- an open street festival in front of the state assembly, Vidhan Soudha. With the new logo, Bengaluru joins New York, Paris, Berlin, London, Singapore and other global cities with its own tourism logo.
INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARK UPDATES
Amazon Files for ‘Amazontube’ Trade Mark
Amazon Technologies, Inc. has filed a trade mark application for a video streaming service titled ‘Amazontube’ with the USPTO on 05th December 2017. Amazon has filed the trade mark on the same day Google announced its intention to block YouTube from Amazon devices such as Fire TV and Echo Show. The application bearing the serial number 87709325 has been filed in classes 09, 35, 38, 39, 41, 42 and 45.
Star Wars ‘Sabacc’ Mobile Game in Trouble
Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC, an American film and television production company part of Walt Disney filed a federal trade mark law suit to block a mobile app based on ‘Sabacc’, a card game. Sabacc is a card game that was first introduced in ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘Star War’ novels. In 2015, a company called Ren Ventures started a mobile game named ‘Sabacc’ and obtained a trade mark registration in 2016 for the term. Lucasfilm has now challenged the registration claiming that it is likely to create customer confusion. In the lawsuit, it is also claimed that the ‘Sabacc’ mobile game exactly mimics the rules of the fictional game from Star Wars.
TRADE MARK LICENSING UPDATES
WWE Mayhem Mobile Game Available Now
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., an American entertainment company has partnered with Reliance Games, a global developer of free-to-play mobile games to launch ‘WWE Mayhem’ an arcade action game featuring WWE superstars. The mobile game can be downloaded for free on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.
Lord of the Rings – Wine Collection
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., an American entertainment company has teamed up with Lot18, which curates, markets and retails fine wine online, to release a new limited edition collection of wine inspired by ‘Lord of the Rings’. The range includes four varieties of wine featuring the characters Aragorn, Frodo, Galadriel, and Gandalf. Each variety has a limited edition of 6,000 bottles and is available on the Lot18 e-commerce website.
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION UPDATES
Karnataka Tops GI List in India
As per the latest report on registration of Geographical Indications released recently by the Union ministry of commerce and industry, 301 products have been registered since 2004. Karnataka tops the list with 39 items followed by Maharashtra at 30. The latest GI registrations that Karnataka has obtained are Udupi Sarees, Guledgudd Khana, Navalgund Durries, Ganjifa Cards of Mysore and Karnataka Bronzeware.
BANANAIP TIP OF THE WEEK
One can file a trade mark application with an intent to use the mark in the future. However you have the obligation to show usage of the mark on a product or service within five years or otherwise lose the registration. You can file an intent to use trademark application when you have concerns that the same or a similar mark can be easily adopted by competitors.
Author: BIP Trade Mark Attorneys
BIP’s Trade Mark Attorneys are among the leading experts in the field. They work with clients such as PEPS, Dharma Productions, Essilor, Samsung and the IITs with respect to trade mark filing, prosecution, registration, management, licensing, franchising, merchandizing and strategy.
The weekly trade mark news initiative is a part of their pro bono work, and is aimed at spreading trade mark awareness. You are free to share the news with appropriate attribution and backlink to the source.
If you have any questions, you may write to BIP’s Trade Mark Attorneys –contact@bananaip.com
