boAt Splashes Competitor’s Unjust Enrichment Dreams, Brexit to Not Effect UK Trademark System for Now, ‘Mambacita’ Trademark Filed by Kobe Bryant Weeks Before Death, Little Caesars Pizza Ventures into India with Veg Only Option, and morebrought to you by the Trademark Attorneys at BananaIP (BIP) Counsel.
INDIAN TRADEMARKS UPDATE:
“boAt” Splashes Competitor’s Unjust Enrichment Dreams
Delhi High Court has passed an interim injunction against Exotic Mile, an audio-gadgets business firm, for violating the registered trademark “boAt” of Imagine Marketing Pvt. Ltd. Imagine Marketing is the proprietor of boAt, a well know electronic products supplier in India. It contended that Exotic Mile had dishonestly adopted the trademark “BOULT”, which is phonetically and deceptively similar to “boAt”. Further, it alleged that the usage of the tagline ‘UNPLUG YOURSELF’ by Exotic Mile was confusingly similar to its tagline ‘PLUG INTO NIRVANA’. The Court while considering the presence of both companies one-commerce platforms,passed an interim injunction restraining Exotic Mile from using the trademark “BOULT” as well as the tagline ‘UNPLUG YOURSELF’.
INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARKS UPDATES
Brexit Not to Affect the UK Trademark System for Now
During the recent ratification of the ‘Withdrawal Agreement’ between the United Kingdom and the European Union, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the UK has clarified that there will be no disruption to IPO services or changes to the UK IP system during the transition period (1st February, 2020 till 31st December, 2020). Accordingly, the UK will remain part of the EU trademark system and the UK legal representatives will continue to have the right to represent clients before the EU IPO. The International registrations for trademarks and designs designating the European Union via the Madrid and Hague systems will also continue to extend to the UK. The IPO has further informed that the businesses, organisations or individuals, that have applications for a EU trademark which will have a period of nine months from the end of the transition period to apply in the UK for the same protections.
‘Mambacita’ Trademark Filed by Kobe Bryant Weeks Before Death
Kobe Bryant, the legendary basketball player, had filed a trademark application for the word mark “Mambacita” at the United States Patents and Trademarks Office, just weeks before his and his daughter’s death in a tragic helicopter crash in California. Kobe Bryant, who went by the self-proclaimed nickname “The Black Mamba”, had affectionately dubbed his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, “Mambacita”.The trademark “Mambacita” was filed for sportswear including athletic shirts, shorts, hats, jerseys, sweatpants, sweatshirts, t-shirts, etc.
BRAND LICENSING UPDATES:
McDonald’s Ties up with Joester Loria Group to Bring Out Fashion Collection
McDonald’s Corporation, the world’s leading global foodservice retailer, is collaborating with the Joester Loria Group,a premier full-service brand licensing agency, based in the New York to develop collaborations and collection of fashion, accessories and collectibles for adults. McDonald’s first ever brand license was during the 1980’s and ever since has a history of partnering with leading fashion brands and retailers. By entering into the recent licensing agreement, Joester Loria Group would work closely with the McDonald’s global marketing team to tap into the brand’s unique cache, popular characters, and iconic brand campaigns.
Smiley Coming Out with Collectibles for Kids Through Game Maker
The Smiley Company, a London based brand licensing company, is collaborating with toy and games brand ‘Splash Toy’ to launch its first series of The Smileys collectibles. The collaboration will target kids in the 6-12 years age group and help them explore their emotions through a unique mix and match play pattern of The Smileys. The first series will be launched with blister packs, which include a secret Smiley and also blind boxes for toy distribution, and for kiosk distribution.
FRANCHISE UPDATE
Little Caesars Pizza Ventures into India with Veg Only Option
Little Caesars, the world’s third-largest pizza chain, headquartered in Detroit, Michigan has forayed into the Indian market with two stores in Ahmedabad, Gujarat through franchisee Phoenix Nexus. Little Caesars which is popular for its Hot-n-Ready pizza and bread has rolled out its vegetarian menu in the Indian market and is currently focused on the dine-in format of quick service restaurants. With its Indianised menu, consumer-focused strategies and affordable pizzas, the company has aggressive plans and looks forward to join hands with interested entrepreneurs to continue rapid growth throughout India.
DOMAIN NAME DISPUTE UPDATE
Lamborghini Stops Fraudulent Domain from Impersonating It
Automobili Lamborghini, the popular Italian luxury sports car manufacturer, had filed a complaint with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center against jjoest, based in the US. Lamborghini alleged that the domain name “lamborghlni.com”, which is similar to its domain name “lamborghini.com”, was connected to a fraudulent email scheme by jjoest. The scheme used the mark and the email address to impersonate an employee of Lamborghini to obtain misdirected payments. The Administrative Panel headed by Nicholas Weston was convinced that the disputed domain was confusingly similar and jjoest used the domain name in bad faith. Thus, the Panel ordered the transfer of the disputed domain name to Lamborghini.
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION UPDATES
Spiti Chharma (Sea buckthorn) and Its Products Filed for GI
Spiti Chharma (Sea buckthorn) is a perennial, woody, nitrogen fixing and thorny deciduous shrub covered with silvery scales. Sea buckthorn which grows in cold regions is naturalised to snowfall or low temperature conditions. Sea buckthom grows in Lahaul Spiti, upper Kinnaur and Pangi in Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh.While, the Chharma (Sea buckthorn) fruits are used in cosmetics, the high concentration of vitamin C in its juices and squashesare useful for treating blood pressure, heart diseases, ulcers of the intestine, skin diseases, bronchitis and cancer. The Spiti Sea buckthorn Society of Kaza, Spiti, has filed an application for Spiti Chharma and its products under the agriculture, horticulture and forestry products category.
Authored and compiled by Poorvika Chandanam
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The Trademark News Bulletin is brought to you by the Trademark/Copyright, IP Transactional Strategy Divisions of BananaIP Counsels, a Top IP Firm in India. Led by Sanjeeth Hegde, BIP’s trademark attorneys are among the leading experts in the field. If you have any questions, or need any clarifications, please write to [email protected] with the subject: Trademark News.
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