Trademark law, in its traditional formulation, is concerned primarily with consumer confusion the risk that the use of a similar mark will mislead consumers about the commercial origin of goods or services. The likelihood of confusion standard, which pervades the examination of relative grounds under Section 11, the infringement enquiry under Section 29 and the […]
Trademark Dilution in India – Blurring and Tarnishment Read More »
High Court of Delhi at New Delhi (Division Bench) | Decided: 9 November 2012 | RFA (OS) No. 90 of 2010 Bench: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Pradeep Nandrajog & Hon’ble Mr. Justice Manmohan Singh Background The Himalaya Drug Company, the appellant, is the owner of the trade mark Liv.52, registered under registration number 180564 in Class
Supreme Court of India | Decided: 26 July 2018 Civil Appeal Nos. 2937–2942 & 2943–2944 of 2018 Bench: Hon’ble Mr. Justice A.K. Sikri & Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ashok Bhushan Citation: AIR 2018 SC 3516 | (2018) 9 SCC 183 Background Karnataka Co-operative Milk Producers Federation Limited, the respondent, is a cooperative federation of milk producers
Nandhini Deluxe v. Karnataka Co-operative Milk Producers Federation Ltd. Read More »
Delhi High Court | Gita Mittal J. | 25 May 2007 | Citation: 142 (2007) DLT 724 | 2007 (35) PTC 95 (Del) | MIPR 2007 (2) 269 BACKGROUND The plaintiffs, Cadbury India Limited and its associated entity, are engaged in the manufacture and sale of confectionery and chocolate products in India, forming part of
Cadbury India Limited & Ors. v. Neeraj Food Products Read More »
No concept in Indian trademark law is more frequently litigated, more extensively analyzed in judicial decisions or more consequential in its practical application than deceptive similarity. It is the standard by which the Trade Marks Registry determines whether a pending application conflicts with an earlier registration, the criterion by which courts assess whether an allegedly
Deceptive Similarity The Legal Test Under Indian Trademark Law Read More »
Among the most commercially significant and doctrinally complex questions in contemporary Indian trademark law is the extent to which the visual and physical appearance of a product or its packaging its trade dress can be protected as a trademark. In a marketplace saturated with competing products, the overall commercial appearance of goods has become one
Trade Dress and Product Shape as Trademark in India Read More »
Delhi High Court | J.D. Kapoor J. | 29 October 2003 108 (2003) DLT 51 | 2003(27)PTC478(Del) Background Colgate Palmolive Company (Plaintiff No. 1), a US-incorporated multinational and its Indian subsidiary/licensee Colgate Palmolive (India) Ltd. (Plaintiff No. 2) had been manufacturing and selling tooth powder in India since 1951 in distinctively shaped cans bearing a
Colgate Palmolive Company & Anr. vs. Anchor Health and Beauty Care Pvt. Ltd. Read More »
Delhi High Court | Valmiki J. Mehta J. | 25 May 2018 AIRONLINE 2018 DEL 256 | CS (COMM) No. 890/2018 Background Christian Louboutin SAS, the renowned French luxury footwear company, filed a commercial suit before the Delhi High Court seeking injunction against infringement of its trade marks, passing off and damages. The plaintiff claimed
Supreme Court of India | M. Jagannadha Rao & Y.K. Sabharwal JJ. | 9 May 2000 AIR 2000 SC 2114 | 2000 (5) SCC 573 Background The appellant, S.M. Dyechem Ltd., claimed to have commenced business in 1988 in food products including potato chips, potato wafers, corn-pops and preparations made of rice and rice flour.
The history of trademark law is, in significant part, a history of expanding frontiers. What began as a system designed to protect word marks and simple devices the merchant’s mark stamped on goods to identify their origin has evolved over centuries into a framework broad enough, in principle, to accommodate almost any sign capable of
Colour Marks, Sound Marks and Non-Traditional Trademarks in India Read More »