This week’s trademark updates are as follows:
Coke Studio v. Cook Studio : The trademark conundrum
The ongoing tussle between one Nikhil Chawla, proprietor , of “The Chawla Group” against ‘The Coca Cola Company’, has now been referred to mediation by Justice Pratibha M Singh. The Court stated that both the parties are being referred to the Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre on 31st May, 2022 . Mr. Rajeev Varma, Senior Counsel has been appointed as the mediator for this matter. The plaintiff had submitted that the defendants had sent notices stating that the Defendants were the owner of the registered trademark named ‘COKE STUDIO’ . Hence, calling upon him to desist from using the mark COOK STUDIO for his culinary related blog.
Karim’s v. Kareem’s : A delicious battle
The Delhi High Court has granted an interim relief to Delhi’s iconic food chain ‘Karim’. Justice Pratibha M Singh has directed the Bombay based restaurant-Kareem’s to put a disclaimer that they are not related or associated with the Delhi based restaurant- ‘Karim’. The High Court was bemused on how the Trademark Registry allowed the application of the Defendants. The matter will be heard in the first week of August.
Delhi High Court imposes ₹25 lakh on a website ‘Sholay.com’
In Sholay Media Entertainment & Anr. vs. Yogesh Patel and Ors., Justice Pratibha M Singh imposed Rs. 25 lakh damages on the website- Sholay.com for infringing the trademark of the legendary movie- Sholay. Justice Pratibha M Singh stated that- “Certain films cross the boundaries of just being ordinary words and the title of the film ‘SHOLAY’ is one of them. Titles and films are capable of being recognized under trademark law and in India ‘SHOLAY’ would be a classic example of such a case”. The Court further stated- “The adoption of the mark ‘SHOLAY’ by the defendants was clearly mala fide and dishonest, owing to the use of the infringing logo, designs, selling of the DVD of the film ‘SHOLAY’ on the Defendants’ website, etc. For the reasons contained above, this Court is convinced that this is a fit case for award of costs to the Plaintiffs. Accordingly, the present suit is decreed for a sum of ₹25,00,000.”
BMW’s new trademark suggests a new cruiser in town.
A brand name for the names ‘R12’ – an arranged cruiser model sitting beneath the R18 – and ‘Roctane’ has been recorded by BMW as of late. The trademark application mentions the description as motorcycles. The application has been accepted in Germany, whereas, the international rights are pending.
HT Media Limited & Anr. v. www.Hindustantimes.Tech & Anr.
The Delhi High Court has restrained a rogue website- www.hindustantimes.tech from publishing any news item and has stated this to be a violation of Hindustan Media’s IP rights. The Court observed that :- “There is no doubt in the mind of the Court that Defendant No.1 intends to encash the goodwill of the Plaintiffs in the mark/name ‘Hindustan Times’ and also promote its website to the Indian audience.” Justice Pratibha M Singh also stated that “The mark ‘Hindustan Times’ is the registered trademark of the Plaintiffs. The Plaintiffs commands a global viewership and the reputation of one of India’s oldest newspapers. The manner in which the mark/name ‘Hindustan Times’ has been completely misappropriated leaves no manner of doubt in the mind of the Court that Defendant No.1 intends to misuse the said mark as also the content which is published by the Plaintiffs on their website.”
Authored by Lavanya Anand (Associate, 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.
The weekly trademark news initiative is a part of their pro bono work and is aimed at spreading trademark awareness. You are free to share the news with appropriate attribution and backlink to the source.
Disclaimer
Kindly note that the news bulletin has been put together from different sources, primary and secondary, and BananaIP’s reporters may not have verified all the news published in the bulletin. You may write to contact@bananaip.com for corrections
