The Division Bench (Two Judge Bench) of the Delhi High Court recently held that Common dictionary words may also acquire secondary meaning and serve as a source identifier. The Division Bench made the ruling in an Appeal filed against the order of the Single Judge where parties were at loggerheads over the use of the word…

The issue in the instant appeal before the Delhi High Court pertains to the Court’s territorial jurisdiction over a website not based in India but accessible to consumers in India. Tata Sons Private Limited (TSPL) brought the action against Hakunamatata Tata Founders & Ors alleging trademark infringement, passing off, dilution, etc., for using the mark…

A jeweller and a readymade garment manufacturer are at loggerheads over the name VASUNDHRA. The Plaintiff, Vasundhara Jewelers Pvt Ltd (hereinafter VJPL) has brought trademark infringement and passing off action against Kirat Vinodbhai Jadhvani and others (hereinafter Defendants) for using the mark Vasundhra for readymade garments. The representation of both parties’ marks is depicted below…

The Supreme Court, in this Appeal, reinforced the significance of interpreting the statutes. The Court observed that the textual interpretation should match the contextual one. Facts in brief Renaissance Hotel Holdings Inc, (appellant), a company incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware, United States of America, filed the suit against B. Vijaya Sai…

The Court ruled that “Education is an area where chances of confusion should be completely avoided as it can result in having a damaging effect on the careers of children”. The court recognized that ‘THE BRITISH SCHOOL’ name is exclusive proprietary to the British School Society. ‘THE BRITISH SCHOOL’ is not a generic and common…

Havells India Limited (Havells) has approached the Delhi High Court alleging registered design infringement and passing off of their ceiling fan design and trade dress by Panasonic Life Solution India Pvt Ltd (Panasonic). Havells seeks to restrain Panasonic from using the designs and trade dress/get up for their Venice Prime ceiling fans which allegedly are…

Flipkart Internet Private Limited (Flipkart), the well-known e-commerce entity has filed this writ petition before the Delhi High Court to quash the First Information Report (FIR) registered against it under Sections 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957 and Sections 103/104 of the Trademarks Act, 1999, and all proceedings thereto. The criminal proceedings were initiated on…

The crux of the dispute between the parties is the brand name and packaging of the energy drink manufactured and marketed by Hell Energy Magyarorszag Kft (hereinafter Hell Energy) under the brand name HELL with distinctive packaging, depicted below. The Defendant, Shri Brahm Shakti Prince Beverages Pvt. (hereinafter Prince Beverages) has allegedly copied the brand name…

The Indian patent system works on several deadlines throughout the patent prosecution cycle. While some of the deadlines are extendible, there is no flexibility in others, and as a result, missing them can result in the abandonment of the patent application. Thus, compliance with the statutory deadlines is critical to safeguard exclusive rights over the…

In its recent judgment ‘Excitel Pvt. Ltd. vs. The Registrar of Trade Marks’, the Delhi High Court has addressed the admissibility of internet extracts as evidence in trademark proceedings before the Trademarks Office. The Court observed that rejecting internet or website extracts as evidence of use of a mark in trademark proceedings on the ground…

The post covers an Appeal from the order of the District Judge-2, Nagpur, to the Bombay High Court over rights in the mark ‘SHRIPHAL’. The Plaintiff, Mysore Deep Perfumery Household (Mysore Perfumery) filed the action against Sunilkumar Amrutlal Jain (Sunilkumar), alleging passing off and to restrain the latter from using the mark SHRIPHAL in relation…

Alkem Laboratories Ltd (Alkem) has approached the Delhi High Court seeking permission to sell the existing stock of the product ‘ALDIGESIC PAIN RELIEF’ pending the final case decision. Laborate Pharmaceuticals India Ltd (Laborate) alleged that Alkem’s product packaging of ‘ALDIGESIC’ product was similar to the product sold by them under the mark ‘LABDIC RELIEF’. The…