The Delhi High Court recently delivered an important decision in the case of WOW MOMO FOODS PRIVATE LIMITED\u00a0 v. WOW BURGER & ANR., rejecting Wow Momo\u2019s plea for an interim injunction. The case revolved around alleged trademark infringement and passing off.<\/p>\n
The plaintiff, Wow Momo, a well-known food services company that began operations in 2008, has grown to over 600 outlets across more than 30 cities. It owns several registered trademarks such as \u201cWOW! MOMO\u201d, \u201cWOW! CHINA\u201d, and \u201cWOW! CHICKEN\u201d and claimed that \u201cWOW!\u201d is the distinctive and dominant part of its brand family. Upon learning that the defendants were preparing to launch food business operations in India under the mark \u201cWOW BURGER\u201d, the plaintiff approached the Court seeking to restrain them from using the term \u201cWOW\u201d. The plaintiff argued that due to its extensive use of \u201cWOW!\u201d for over 15 years, a sales turnover of \u20b9453 crore in 2023-24, substantial promotional expenditure, and a strong brand reputation, the word \u201cWOW\u201d had acquired distinctiveness and secondary meaning in the minds of consumers, thereby entitling it to protection.<\/p>\n
The Court, however, took a different view. It noted that Wow Momo had no trademark registration for the standalone term \u201cWOW\u201d or for \u201cWOW! BURGER\u201d. The plaintiff\u2019s registrations were only for composite marks such as \u201cWOW! MOMO\u201d, \u201cWOW! CHINA\u201d, \u201cWOW! CHICKEN\u201d and other variants. The Court found that the plaintiff had, in fact, admitted in its reply to the objections of the Registrar of Trade Marks that \u201cWOW\u201d is a common English dictionary word, and becomes distinctive only when combined with other words. Many of its registered marks also carried disclaimers specifically denying any exclusive rights over the word \u201cWOW\u201d by itself.<\/p>\n
The Learned Judge highlighted that \u201cWOW\u201d is a laudatory expression commonly used in everyday language to convey delight or quality, and is widely used in the food and hospitality industry. Under such circumstance, generic or descriptive terms are not eligible for exclusive trademark protection unless they have acquired a strong secondary meaning, and are uniquely associated with a single source in the minds of consumers.<\/p>\n
Relying on various precedents the Court reiterated that secondary meaning cannot be lightly presumed and must be proven through long, continuous, and exclusive use over many years, which had not been established in this case. The Court found that using \u201cWOW\u201d since 2008 was not sufficient to render it uniquely associated with the plaintiff, especially when many other food businesses also use \u201cWOW\u201d in their branding.<\/p>\n
The Court further observed that the plaintiff had mischaracterised \u201cWOW! BURGER\u201d as its trademark even though it had never been registered and was only used as a menu item until 2018. After that, it disappeared from the menu and was replaced by \u201cMoburg\u201d. The plaintiff\u2019s website and current menu also showed no trace of \u201cWOW! BURGER\u201d as a brand, further weakening its claim.<\/p>\n
When comparing the two marks, the plaintiff\u2019s \u201cWOW! MOMO\u201d and the defendant\u2019s \u201cWOW BURGER\u201d, the Court applied the anti-dissection rule, which requires marks to be compared as a whole from the perspective of the average consumer with imperfect recollection. It found that apart from the common word \u201cWOW\u201d, the marks are visually, phonetically, and conceptually different. The plaintiff\u2019s uses a distinctive yellow theme across its branding, while the defendant\u2019s mark uses red and white. Additionally, the plaintiff sells both vegetarian and non-vegetarian burgers under the name \u201cMoburg\u201d within its WOW! MOMO and WOW! CHICKEN brands, whereas the defendants appear to be focus on protein-rich vegetarian burgers. Since \u201cWOW\u201d is a common laudatory term and the overall marks are dissimilar, the Court held that there was no likelihood of confusion or deception. It also emphasised that disclaimers in registrations prevent proprietors from overextending rights to common words.<\/p>\n
The Court held that Wow Momo had failed to establish a prima facie case, and therefore dismissed the application for interim injunction. The judgment strongly reaffirmed that common or descriptive words like \u201cWOW\u201d cannot be monopolised by a single entity unless they acquire strong secondary meaning through long and exclusive use, which must be strictly proven. This decision serves as a clear reminder that businesses using generic or laudatory words must pair them with distinctive elements to secure enforceable trademark rights, and that courts will not permit proprietors to fence off everyday language from public use.<\/p>\n