This week’s trademark updates are as follows –
PhonePe v MobilePe : A tussle
A trademark infringement suit was filed by digital payment giant PhonePe against MobilePe in the Commercial Division of Madras High Court. The Court was satisfied with the prima facie evidence submitted by PhonePe and passed an interim order restricting MobilePe from offering any UPI or BHIM services. Justice M Sundar stated that, “Therefore, besides prima facie case, possible irreparable legal injury aspect qua ‘Payments and Financial Services’ [‘UPI’ and ‘BHIM’] is also made out. This moves the balance of convenience aspect towards grant of limited order of status quo as alluded to supra. Therefore, prima facie case, balance of convenience and irreparable legal injury parameters have impelled this Commercial Division to grant this limited order of status quo as of today.”
Entrepreneur Magazine Vs. The Senior Examiner of Trade Marks, Delhi
The famous magazine- Entrepreneur had filed a trademark application for its mark- Entrepreneur under Classes 9,38 and 41. However, the same was refused by the Trademark registry, Delhi. An appeal was filed against the order in the Delhi High Court. A bench consisting of Justice Jyoti Singh has directed the Senior Examiner of Trademarks, Delhi to reconsider the decision to register the mark – Entrepreneur. The counsel for ‘Entrepreneur Magazine’ submitted that, “the Registrar of Trade Marks has completely erred in disallowing the mark ‘ENTREPRENEUR’ to proceed for advertisement in the Trademarks Journal. The mark ‘ENTREPRENEUR’ is an English word that has been adopted by the appellant (Entrepreneur Magazine) to identify and demarcate its goods from others. The mark has been adopted from the name of the appellant’s company i.e. Entrepreneur Media, Inc. and the obvious association between the two lends greater exclusivity and distinctiveness to the mark in public perception”.
The Battle of Sadda Pind
A restaurant in Rajasthan has been restricted by the Delhi High Court from using the trade name ‘Sadda Pind’, which is a well-known tourist attraction in Punjab. The ‘Sadda Pind’ mark was owned by JDM Heritage Lawns Heritage Private Limited, who then approached the Delhi High Court seeking an injunction against Ankit Chawla, who runs and owns ‘Sadda Pind Restaurant’, from engaging in blatant acts of infringement, passing off, unfair competition and misuse of the ‘Sadda Pind’ name and logo. The court stated that the defendant had not only adopted a similar or identical mark and name but had also adopted an almost similar or identical logo and device. The court further stated that the said injunction will come into effect from November 15.
GI Tag Increases Saffron Sales
The unique GI-tagged Kashmiri Saffron has observed a remarkable growth of 30 percent in its production this year, owing to appropriate weather conditions. The Kashmiri Saffron was in great demand after it was awarded the GI Tag, to the extent that farmers did not deem it possible to meet the ever-rising demand given the production rate. However, the current weather conditions and the expected production from the crops have livened up the farmers’ expectations for production in the coming year, with approximately 150kgs of the product if all farmers sold their crop at the Kashmiri Saffron Park.
Authored by Lavanya Anand (Associate, BananaIP Counsels) and Rohan Cherian Koshy (Intern, BananaIP Counsels).
This post is brought to you by BananaIP Counsels’ Trademarks and Copyright Attorneys
About BananaIP Counsels’ Trademarks and Copyright Attorneys
This Weekly Trademark Updates Bulletin is brought to you by the Trademarks and Copyright Division of BananaIP Counsels, a Top IP Firm in India. Led by Sanjeeth Hegde, BananaIP Counsels’ trademark and copyright 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: Weekly Trademark Update.
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