We all know that there are multiple legal steps in place for a Businessman & Corporates, whether big or small, to take when there is a need. One such legal step is that for the Trademarks Act, 1999. The Act that was coined in the Indian legal system in 1958, went through many changes and the situation became drastically different after Bombay HC pronounced its decision in the case of Raymond Ltd.
Trademark infringement action is chosen when there is a phonetic similarity and identical marks conflicting with each other thereby giving rise to infringement as well as passing off. There have been some tricky areas in the Trademarks Act due to law takes its own time.
But now it seems, especially in the time of growing competition, the rise of counterfeits and the online exposure, the Courts have started taking the depth of the Trademarks Act quite seriously which helps the corporate world heave a sigh of relief.
A recent example of the same stems from the case of Kopran limited advocated by our Partner Deep Shah who recently got interim injunction1 against a rival company that was using the Corporate Name/ brand name "Kopraan" that was phonetically similar to that of our clients Corporate Name / Trade Name "Kopran" which has uninterrupted user since 1958 whereas, brand name "Kopraan" was registered in March of 2020.
Both the companies have a complete distinction when it comes to their products as KSAA's Kopran is known to manufacture medicinal, pharmaceutical and ayurvedic products, the rival start-up sells hygiene, sanitization and cleaning products.
After a notable time of back and forth in the court, Kopran won the case and made sure that the rival organization changed its trademark to avoid any infringement. It is to be noted here that, passing off actions does have an element of infringement.
This is a promising example of the diligence with which the courts are now looking into the Trademark Act and its repercussions on infringement and passing off actions.
Footnote
1 IA No(L). 9167 of 2020 in COMIP No.(L) 9162 of 2020
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