Indian Trade Mark Statistics for August 2017 (Fourth Week), Emoji Burger Trade Mark, Puma Trade Mark Infringement, India Post and Paytm in a legal tiff over the use of the word \u2018Postcard\u2019, Gobindhobog Rice of West Bengal gets GI registration, and more brought to you by Trade Mark Attorneys at BananaIP (BIP) Counsels.<\/p>\n
\u201cA brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.\u201d\u00a0 – Jeff Bass<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
INDIAN TRADE MARK STATISTICS <\/strong><\/h2>\n
The productivity of the Indian Trade Mark Office has been dramatically high compared to the previous week\u2019s status. The total number of applications examined increased by seventeen percent (17%). The total number of applications published in the trademark journal increased by seventy-five percent (75%). The number of registrations granted also increased by one hundred and thirty-nine percent (139%).<\/p>\n
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\n Particulars<\/strong><\/td>\n Last week<\/strong><\/td>\n This week<\/strong><\/td>\n Change in %<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Total Trademark applications examined by Trademark Office<\/td>\n 6156<\/td>\n 7258<\/td>\n An increase of 17%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Total applications disposed through show cause hearings<\/td>\n 976<\/td>\n 892<\/td>\n A decrease of 8 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Total applications published in the trademark journal<\/td>\n 7545<\/td>\n 13272<\/td>\n An increase of 75%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Total registrations granted<\/td>\n 1919<\/td>\n 4589<\/td>\n An increase of 139 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Total hearing notices issued<\/td>\n 1362<\/td>\n 1603<\/td>\n An increase of 17 %<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Total renewal notices issued<\/td>\n 1825<\/td>\n 1512<\/td>\n A decrease of 17%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Total number of New applications received<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n
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\n Sr. No<\/strong><\/td>\n Jurisdiction<\/strong><\/td>\n New Applications<\/strong><\/td>\n Examined<\/strong><\/td>\n Published<\/strong><\/td>\n Registered<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 1<\/td>\n AHMEDABAD<\/td>\n 19980<\/td>\n 15670<\/td>\n 17826<\/td>\n 18651<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 2<\/td>\n CHENNAI<\/td>\n 30849<\/td>\n 23827<\/td>\n 24732<\/td>\n 42471<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 3<\/td>\n DELHI<\/td>\n 61565<\/td>\n 47023<\/td>\n 51687<\/td>\n 72742<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 4<\/td>\n KOLKATA<\/td>\n 9649<\/td>\n 7635<\/td>\n 7122<\/td>\n 11342<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 5<\/td>\n MUMBAI<\/td>\n 42029<\/td>\n 33060<\/td>\n 32599<\/td>\n 57275<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Total<\/td>\n <\/td>\n 164072<\/td>\n 127215<\/td>\n 133966<\/td>\n 202481<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n INTERESTING TRADE MARKS<\/strong><\/h2>\n
EMOJI Burger<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Emoji Burger LTD, a New York based restaurant has been granted registration for the mark \u2018Emoji Burger\u2019 bearing Application number 87183030 on 16th<\/sup> May 2017. The mark has been granted registration under class 43, primarily for restaurant services. It is interesting to note that a lot of applications have been applied for with the term \u2018Moji\u2019 in some form or another at the USPTO, e.g. PETMOJI, TRUMPMOJI,\u00a0EMOJIBALMS,\u00a0EMOJI BANDAGES, and\u00a0EMOJI CARDS.<\/p>\n
INDIAN TRADE MARK UPDATES<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Puma Se vs Nikhil Thermoplast: Trade Mark Infringement, Dilution and Passing Off<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Puma Se (Plaintiff), a well-known German Footwear Multinational Company, filed a trade mark infringement suit before the Delhi High Court for restraining Nikhil Thermoplast (Defendant)\u00a0<\/strong>from manufacturing, trading, selling, marketing, offering for sale or dealing in any other way, in any goods including clothing, footwear, headwear and\/or any other related goods under the Form Strip mark\/logo or any other mark\/logo which is deceptively similar to the Plaintiff\u2019s mark PUMA and Form Strip logo which may amount to infringement of the Plaintiff\u2019s registered trademarks. Plaintiffs\u2019 brand PUMA is a registered trademark and one of the world’s leading sports brands. It has been averred in the suit that the Plaintiff created and adopted a distinctive Form Strip logo in 1956 which appears on the shoes manufactured\/marketed and sold by the Plaintiff globally including in India. It has also been averred that the Form Strip logo is registered in Class 25 under the Trademarks Act, 1999. In August 2015, the Plaintiff came across the Defendant\u2019s products, i.e., footwear, under the mark ROCK-STEP using a device\/logo identical to Plaintiffs’ Form Strip logo. The Plaintiff has stated that the use of the impugned logo by the Defendant in respect of identical goods of the Plaintiff amounts to a dilution of the Plaintiffs’ well-known trademark. The Defendant did not appear before the court and did not file a written statement in response. On perusal of the evidence and after hearing the Plaintiffs\u2019 arguments, the Court opined that due to extensive use over a substantial period of time, the Plaintiffs’ PUMA mark along with the Form Strip Logo has acquired reputation and goodwill. The Court further opined that the use of the impugned mark by the Defendant is bound to cause incalculable loss of reputation and loss of sales to the Plaintiff. The Court, therefore, granted a permanent injunction in favor of the Plaintiff.<\/p>\n
India Post and Paytm in a legal spat over the use of the word \u2018Postcard\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The Department of Posts, Government of India has sent a legal notice to Paytm, an Indian electronic payment and e-commerce brand over the unauthorized use of the term \u2018Postcard\u201d. Earlier this year Paytm had launched \u2018Paytm Postcards\u2019, a digital version of gifting money with customized messages on several occasions. The notice states that only India Post has the exclusive right over the word \u2018Postcard\u2019 under the Indian Post Office (IPO) Act Rules and Regulations.<\/p>\n
INTERNATIONAL TRADE MARK UPDATES<\/strong><\/h2>\n
General Mills loses trademark battle<\/strong><\/h3>\n
An American multinational consumer food brand, General Mills\u2019 application to trademark the yellow background color on boxes of its Cheerio\u2019s cereal has been turned down by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board on the ground that the mark is not distinctive in nature. The Company had applied for the trade mark in September 2015. The Board ruled that the Company failed to prove that the consumers associate the yellow color with the breakfast cereal, and stated that \u201cthe customers are more likely to view yellow packaging simply as eye-catching ornamentation customarily used for the packaging of breakfast cereals generally\u201d.<\/p>\n
TRADE MARK LICENSING UPDATES<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Geronimo Stilton merchandise soon to hit Indian Stores<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Geronimo Stilton, one of the best-selling children\u2019s book series will be soon reaching Indian Stores in the form of different merchandize. Brand Monk Licensing (BML), a Mumbai based licensing company has signed an exclusive deal with Atlantyca Entertainment, the company that manages the brand rights of Geronimo, to launch various products ranging from bags, collectibles, back to school products and board games. The title character in the book series is a talking mouse which became very popular among the children in India. The merchandise is said to launch this November and the products will be available across online and offline stores and also via school distribution.<\/p>\n
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION UPDATES<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Gobindhobog Rice of West Bengal gets Geographical Indication (GI) registration<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The specialty of Bardhaman district of West Bengal, the Gobindobhog rice has now acquired Geographical Indication (GI) registration. The region of Bardhaman is popularly known as the Rice bowl of Bengal. Gobindobhog is a non-basmati indigenous, aromatic rice of West Bengal which is being cultivated in the state for last 300 years. It is a short grain, white, aromatic, sticky rice having a sweet buttery flavor. The State Government had applied for the GI registration on August 24, 2015.<\/p>\n
BIP TIP OF THE WEEK<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Well Known Trade Mark Recognition<\/h3>\n
Companies and Brand Owners that have been in business for more than ten years, and whose products have acquired distinctiveness among the consumers must consider filing for recognition of their marks as a well-known mark before the Indian Trade Mark Office. If the mark is recognized and listed as a well-known mark, the company will be able to not only prevent registration of similar marks, but will also save substantial amount of money that is now being spent on oppositions.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nIf you have any questions, or need any clarifications, please feel free to write to contact@bananaip.com<\/div>\n<\/div>\nDisclaimer: Kindly note that the news bulletin has been put together from different sources, primary and secondary, and BananaIP\u2019s reporters may not have verified all the news published in the bulletin. You may write to contact@bananaip.com for corrections and take down.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This bulletin examines major trade mark events in India, such as the Puma infringement case and the Paytm vs India Post dispute. It also discusses GI registration for Gobindobhog rice and recent trade mark statistics, providing an analytical perspective on current trends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":3,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,11],"tags":[8723,184,257,8724,2302,3115,1754,2538],"class_list":["post-40411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-intellectual-property","category-trademarks","tag-emoji-burger","tag-geographical-indication","tag-gi-registration","tag-india-post","tag-paytm","tag-puma","tag-trade-mark-infringement","tag-trademark-statistics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40411"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135985,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40411\/revisions\/135985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}