Times Group Doesn’t Share Miss India and Mr. India Title, Franchise India Expo 2019, Rock Clashes with Rackets, Little Singham Swings into Merchandizing, Vikipedia No Match for Wikipedia and more brought to you by the Trademark Attorneys at BananaIP (BIP) Counsel.
TRADEMARK QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Branding is not just about being seen as better than the competition. It’s about being seen as the only solution to your audience’s problem” – John Morgan
INDIAN TRADEMARK UPDATES
Times Group Doesn’t Share ‘Miss India’ and ‘Mr. India’ Titles
Bennett, Coleman and Company (Times Group) filed a trademark infringement suit against Rising India Entertainment Production for using the titles ‘Miss India’ and ‘Mr. India’ for a beauty pageant organized by them. Times Group is said to have been organizing beauty pageants with the said titles since 1964 and the same have gained great reputation and goodwill in India and abroad. Moreover, they are the registered trademark owners of the titles in several trademark classes. Rising India stated in their defence that they were not aware of the registration of the trademarks in favour of the Times Group and agreed not to conduct the event. The Delhi High Court, therefore passed an order restraining the organization from using the titles ‘Miss India’ and/or ‘Mr. India’ or any other trademark which is deceptively similar to these.
INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARK UPDATES
Rapper Enforces Hot Girl Summer Trademark
American rapper and singer, Megan Pete, popularly known as Megan Thee Stallion, has filed new trademark applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the mark “Hot Girl Summer”. The mark has been filed by Theory Entertainment LLC, the company owned by Megan, under several classes including apparels, entertainment, network communication, stationary and sound recordings. The singer had filed for the applications when she realized that corporates such as Wendy’s and Forever 21 were using the phrase without giving her due credit for it.
Rock Clashes with Rackets: Rock Band Sues Racket Manufacturer
Dorisimo, the company representing the classical English rock band The Clash, has filed a case against Wilson Sporting Goods for trademark infringement. In a suit filed at the US District Court California, Dorisimo has accused the sports equipment manufacturer of selling tennis rackets bearing the band’s name. Dorisimo has claimed that they have been selling tennis shoes under the trademark Clash since 2010 and Wilson’s use of the band’s name to sell tennis racket is likely to cause consumer confusion and deception about the origin of the goods. Dorisimo is seeking $3 million dollar in damages as well as attorney’s fees.
BRAND LICENSING UPDATES
OshKosh Enters India
OshKosh B’Gosh, an American apparel company is all set to enter India through e-commerce major Myntra. Partnering with Tablez, Myntra will introduce OshKosh B’Gosh apparel in India and help it reach a wide Indian consumer base. The partnership will focus on infant garment and footwear portfolio.
Little Singham Swings into Merchandising
Licensing and Merchandising firm Dream Theatre has become the official franchise partner of the show Little Singham. The show was launched by Reliance Animation and Rohit Shetty Picturez’s in collaboration with Discovery Kids, and has become very popular in its genre. Dream Theatre will be expanding the merchandize portfolio of the show, which will extend to toys, apparel, back to school, footwear, fashion accessories, bags, sporting accessories, FMCG promotions, retail partnerships, etc.
FRANCHISING UPDATES
Franchise India Expo 2019
The 17th International Franchise and Retail Show is all set to begin on October 12th and 13th in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. This Expo will be a platform for sharing ideas, practices and business opportunities by bringing together more than 500 brands including Ferns n Petals, Being Human, Prestige, Raymond, and more than 40,000 business buyers. The Expo will also host events such as Franchise Awards 2019, rewarding outstanding achievement of franchising, and Star Retailer Awards 2019, recognizing excellence in retailing. Further details are available at https://www.franchiseindia.com/expo/.
DOMAIN NAME DISPUTE UPDATES
Vikipedia No Match for Wikipedia
The Wikimedia Foundation Inc., an American non-profit and charitable organization headquartered in San Francisco, California filed a domain dispute with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center against Milen Radumilo for registering the domain www.vikipedia.com. Wikimedia owns national and international trademark registrations for the mark WIKIPEDIA and alleged that Radumilo’s domain name incorporates the WIKIPEDIA mark in its entirety except for substituting a single letter, namely a ‘W’ for ‘V’, and this typographical alteration does not make the disputed domain name distinguishable when written or read. Wikimedia also argued that the disputed domain was registered to capitalize on internet users’ misspelling WIKIPEDIA’s domain name. Furthermore, the disputed domain is operated as a pay-per-click website. Radumilo did not submit any responses to the contentions. The WIPO Arbitration and Media Center noted that WIKIPEDIA mark is inherently distinctive and has built up significant consumer recognition as a mark apart from its domain name. The sole Panelist of WIPO Arbitration and Media Center ruled that the disputed domain was registered and being used in bad faith and therefore ordered the disputed domain www.vikipedia.com be transferred to Wikimedia.
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION UPDATES
Goan Khaje Filed for GI
Goan Khaje more popularly called Khaje is a traditional sweet of Goa which is normally sold during festival occasions. Khaje are finger sized sticks which are made with chickpea flour that are deep fried, cooled, tossed in melted jaggery infused with ginger juice and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Khaje is prepared by traditional Khajekar families from all over Goa. Apart from being a prasad and sweet, Khaje is also thought to be healthy due to the use of ginger and jaggery in the snack. Khaje is said to have a long shelf life without the addition of any class II preservatives. The application was filed in July, 2019 by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of Goa.
Authored and compiled by Shreya Chaddha & Uma T.S
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