“Indian Trade Mark Statistics for January (Second Week) 2018, Apple Files New Trade Mark for Business Chat, Australia Battles for Manuka Honey, Timex Collaborates with NFL, Moomin Based New Apparel Collection, Gulbarga Tur Dal Applied for GI, and more Weekly Trade Mark News” brought to you by the Trade Mark Attorneys at BananaIP (BIP) Counsels.
TRADE MARK QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“A brand is simply trust.” – Steve Jobs
INDIAN TRADE MARK STATISTICS
The Indian Trade Mark Office had a fast week in comparison to the previous week. The total number of applications disposed through show cause hearing has increased by twenty-eight percent (28%). The total number of applications published in the trademark journal has increased by twenty percent (20%). However, there has been a decrease in the total number of registrations granted by two percent (2%).
Weekly Indian Trade Mark Statistics
| Particulars | Last Week | This Week | Change in % |
| Total Trade Mark Applications Examined by Trade Mark Office | 7318 | 7059 | A decrease of 4% |
| Total Applications Disposed through Show Cause Hearings | 4802 | 6146 | An increase of 28% |
| Total Applications Published in the Trade Mark Journal | 5397 | 6489 | An increase of 20% |
| Total Registrations Granted | 7282 | 7115 | A decrease of 2% |
| Total Hearing Notices Issued | 8301 | 8686 | An increase of 5% |
| Total Renewals Notices Issued | 3029 | 4858 | An increase of 60% |
Trade Mark Statistics by Office
Total Number of New Applications Received from January 11th, to January 16th, 2018
| Sr. No | Jurisdiction | New Applications | Examined | Published | Registered |
| 1 | AHMEDABAD | 485 | 332 | 706 | 661 |
| 2 | CHENNAI | 790 | 491 | 1115 | 950 |
| 3 | DELHI | 1673 | 909 | 1996 | 1954 |
| 4 | KOLKATA | 219 | 194 | 265 | 232 |
| 5 | MUMBAI | 1201 | 647 | 1872 | 1519 |
| Total | 4368 | 2573 | 5954 | 5316 |
Yearly Trade Mark Statistics
Trade Mark Statistics from January 01st, 2018 to January 16th, 2018
- Total Number of Trade Mark Applications Filed – 11,799
- Total Number of Trade Mark Applications Examined – 7,694
- Total Number of Trade Mark Applications Published – 19,426
- Total Number of Trade Mark Applications Registered – 17,081
INTERESTING TRADE MARK
Boomcoin filed as Trade Mark
The sudden rise of Bitcoin has the USPTO bombarded with cryptocurrency trade mark applications. Following the trend, a new trade mark application has been filed for ‘Boomcoin’. The mark has been applied as a logo under class 36 which provides financial services.
INDIAN TRADE MARK UPDATES
Orient Bell Limited vs. Royal Marketing
Subject- Trade Mark Infringement, Passing Off
Brief Facts: The Plaintiff, engaged in the business of manufacturing tiles adopted the trade mark ORIENT in the year 1982 and is the registered proprietor of the trade marks in related classes in India. In 2002, the Plaintiff received information regarding the existence of the Defendants who were engaged in supplying tiles under the identical trade name ‘ORIENT’. The Plaintiff claims that the triple test of identical goods, identical trade mark and identical trade channel are satisfied in the present case. It is also claimed in the suit that the Defendants by selling tiles in the name of ‘ORIENT’, have created impression in the market that the goods are connected with Plaintiff and are thereby passing off the goods by infringing the trade mark of the Plaintiff.
Judgement: The Delhi District Court held that the Defendants have violated the trade mark of the Plaintiff which is ORIENT and thereby liable for passing off, as Defendants have passed off their goods in the same name as the trade mark of the Plaintiff, which is marketed and developed by the Plaintiff at the national level. The Court, therefore, passed a decree of permanent injunction restraining the Defendants from using the trade mark ‘ORIENT’ or any other mark similar to that of the Plaintiff. Further, the Court ordered a damage of Rs 1 lakh in the nature of compensatory damage and Rs 1 lakh in the nature of punitive damage.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE MARK UPDATES
Apple Files New Trade Marks
Apple Inc., the global tech giant has filed a new trade mark application with the USPTO. Apple has filed for the mark ‘Business Chat’ in classes 09, 35, 38 and 42. Business Chat is a new application developed by Apple through which customers can directly connect to companies via text messages.
Australia Battles for Manuka Honey
Australia is in a trade mark battle with New Zealand over ‘Manuka Honey’. The New Zealand Manuka Honey Appellation Society had filed for the trade mark ‘Manuka Honey’ in October 2017 in the UK as a certificate mark. The Australian Manuka Honey Association (AMHA) has planned to oppose the mark, claiming that the Manuka species originates from the Tasmanian state of Australia, and not New Zealand as claimed by them. The honey is known for its anti-bacterial property and is a multimillion dollar industry world wide.
TRADE MARK LICENSING UPDATES
Timex Collaborates with NFL
Timex Group USA, Inc., the popular watch manufacturer, has signed a licensing agreement with the National Football League (NFL) in the US. The collaboration is to design customized watches honoring all 32 teams featuring each team’s logo. The deal will be Timex’s first sports licensing collaboration.
Moomin Collection from TruffleShuffle
Moomin, characters in a series of books and comic strips developed by Swedish illustrator Tove Jansson, has partnered with online fashion company TruffleShuffle. The collaboration will develop an exclusive line of Moomin branded apparels and gifts to be launched in early 2018. The exclusive line will consist of tees, sweaters, hoodies, ladies’ dresses, tote bags and pins.
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION UPDATES
Gulbarga Tur Dal Filed as a Geographical Indication (GI)
Gulbarga Tur Dal grown in Kalaburagi often called as the ‘Red Gram Bowl’ of Karnataka has been filed as a GI. The mark has been jointly filed by the University of Agricultural Sciences and the Karnataka Togari Abhivrudhi Mandali Limited and facilitated by the Intellectual Property Facilitation Centre (IPFC). The Dal is known for its unique brown colour as well as for taking less time to cook as compared to the other dals in the market.
BANANAIP TIP OF THE WEEK
Any aggrieved party can initiate a rectification process to remove a granted trade mark from the Trade Mark Register if it can be proved that it was gained through fraud or misrepresentation, or is similar to an existing trade mark.
Author: BIP Trade Mark Attorneys
Led by Sanjeeth Hegde, BIP’s Trade Mark Attorneys are among the leading experts in the field. They work with clients such as PEPS, Dharma Productions, Essilor, Samsung and the IITs with respect to trade mark filing, prosecution, registration, management, licensing, franchising, merchandizing and strategy.
The weekly trade mark news initiative is a part of their pro bono work, and is aimed at spreading trade mark awareness. You are free to share the news with appropriate attribution and backlink to the source.
If you have any questions, you may write to BIP’s Trade Mark Attorneys –[email protected]
