No OYO for Infringer, Cartoon Network Becomes Eco-friendly, Facebook’s Current Shock over Cryptocurrency and more, brought to you by the Trademark Attorneys at BananaIP (BIP) Counsel.
TRADEMARK QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” – Seth Godin
INDIAN TRADEMARK UPDATES
No OYO for Infringer
Oravel Stays Pvt Ltd, operating OYO in India and abroad, had filed a trademark infringement suit against Hotel Metro, a hotel operating in Jaipur, Rajasthan for using the trademark OYO and logo in front of the hotel’s property in a negative manner. Oravel stated in its suit that Hotel Metro has been indulging in unlawful activities of defaming OYO by making false representations before the public. It was therefore averred that the adoption and misuse of the identical trademark and logo by Hotel Metro amounts to detriment of the goodwill and reputation of the OYO trademark. The Delhi District Court observed that Oravel has made a prima facie case for infringement and Hotel Metro’s adoption of an identical trademark was a deliberate move to demean the registered trademark. The Court, therefore, granted an ex-parte decree of permanent injunction restraining the Hotel Metro from infringing and passing off the registered trademark OYO.
INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARK UPDATES
Facebook’s Current Shock over Cryptocurrency
It looks like Facebook’s trouble over their new cryptocurrency project Libra is far from over. Finco Services, a US based software and banking company, operating as Current, has filed a suit against Facebook and its subsidiary Calibra, which operates Libra and branding company Character SF, for trademark infringement. Current has claimed in the suit that Facebook is using a swirly tilde logo for its Libra cryptocurrency, which is very similar to the logo being used by them for their mobile applications. It is interesting to note that both the logos have been designed by Character SF over an interval of three years. Current has alleged trademark infringement, unfair competition, and false designation of origin and is seeking injunction against the ongoing infringement by Facebook.
Riot Over Apparel
Riot Games, a US based video game developer, has filed a trademark infringement suit against e-sport organization Riot Squad. The League of Legends maker has alleged in the lawsuit that Riot Squad has adopted the brand Riot unlawfully for apparels and such use will make consumers mistakenly believe that Riot Squad is “associated with, sponsored or endorsed by, or otherwise affiliated with Riot Games”. Riot Games is seeking damages as well as injunction on the sale of all materials and products that use the mark.
BRAND LICENSING UPDATES
ColourPop with Disney Magic
ColourPop, a US based cosmetics brand has collaborated with Disney to launch a new cosmetics collection. The collection is inspired by the Midnight Masquerade line of Disney princess dolls, which includes the characters of Princesses Belle, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Tiana, Esmeralda, Megara, Aurora, and Giselle. The collection includes eyeshadow palette, eight powder blushes/highlighters, and liquid lipsticks.
Cartoon Network Becomes Eco-friendly
Cartoon Network India in collaboration with eco-friendly apparel brand Quancious, has launched a one of its kind, ecofriendly apparel collection. The collection is inspired by well-known characters from Cartoon Network shows such as The Powerpuff Girls, We Bare Bears, Johnny Bravo, and Dexter’s Laboratory, and includes an assortment of clothing ranging from sarees to neckties. The collection is available at both retail as well as online stores like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra and Tata Cliq.
FRANCHISING UPDATES
Mexican Burrito’s Pan Expansion in India
Amigos Burrito, a Mexican quick service restaurant chain based out of Toronto, Canada has partnered with Franchise India for its pan-India expansion. The burrito brand launched its first outlet in Gurgaon this year and plan to expand to 25 more outlets by 2022. The burrito chain will be launched in three different franchise models such as full dine-in restaurant with liquor or without liquor, express stations, and kiosks at food courts.
DOMAIN NAME DISPUTE UPDATES
Judicial Watch’s Dispute Straddles the Dot
Judicial Watch, a public interest law firm in the United States, filed a domain dispute with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center against Earl Cassorla for the domain www.judicial.watch.com registered with Whois Privacy LLC, United States. The law firm has been using the trademark Judicial Watch and the domain www.judicialwatch.com since 1994 to distinguish and identify its legal services. The WIPO panel finds that the domain www.judicial.watch.com is identical to Judicial Watch. In doing so, the panel cited the established precedence on top-level domain names (TLDs) as well as the recent trend which is to straddle the dot in the domain, thus making the generic TLDs relevant to the “identity or confusing similarity” analysis. The panel concluded that the disputed domain is registered and used in bad faith. Therefore, the domain www.judicial.watch.com is ordered to be transferred to Judicial Watch.
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION UPDATES
Machilipatnam Imitation Jewellery Loses GI Battle
The Geographical Indication (GI) Registry, Chennai refused to grant the GI tag to Machilipatnam Imitation Jewellery due to lack of evidence about the historical origin and reputation of the product. The GI Registry in its order stated that the fundamental deficiencies cited in the examination report were not rectified with proper supporting documents and the uniqueness of the product was not proved to achieve a GI tag. The application was filed by The Machilipatnam Imitation Jewellery Park Members Welfare Association in 2013.
Authored and compiled by Shreya Chaddha & Uma T.S
About BIP’s Trademark Attorneys
The Trademark News Bulletin is brought to you by the Trademark/Copyright, IP Transactional Strategy Divisions of BananaIP Counsels, a Top IP Firm in India. Led by Sanjeeth Hegde, BIP’s trademark attorneys are among the leading experts in the field. If you have any questions, or need any clarifications, please write to contact@bananaip.com with the subject: Trademark News.
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