Trademark quote of the week
“The ideal trademark is one that is pushed to its utmost limit in terms of abstraction and ambiguity, yet it is still readable” –Saul Bass
TRADEMARK STATS FROM THE INDIAN TRADEMARK OFFICE
The Trademark Registry has been really busy this week. There has been an increase of 124% in the total number of applications examined by Trademark Office for this week compared to the last week.
| Particulars | Last week | This week | Change in % |
| Total Trademark applications examined by Trademark Office | 3383 | 7580 | An increase of 124% |
| Total applications disposed through show cause hearings | 454 | 603 | An increase of 32% |
| Total applications published in the trademark journal | 5380 | 5730 | An increase of 6% |
| Total registrations granted | 2883 | 5908 | An increase of 104.9 % |
| Total hearing notices issued | 670 | 3151 | An increase of 370 % |
| Total renewal notices issued | 1310 | 1475 | An increase of 12% |
Total number of marks published in trademark journal
| S.No. | Name of Office | Publication |
| 1. | MUMBAI | 1137 |
| 2. | AHMEDABAD | 623 |
| 3. | KOLKATA | 334 |
| 4. | DELHI | 1681 |
| 5. | CHENNAI | 812 |
| 6. | International Registration Division | 454 |
| 7. | Total Trademarks published in Journal | 5041 |
Total number of Applications Examined by the Trademark Office in this year: 151225
INTERESTING TRADEMARKS
The Gospel According to Kevin- Disney
Disney has recently filed a trademark application for its upcoming movie THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO KEVIN before the US Trademark and Patent Office under class 41 for education and entertainment services. The mark was applied as a proposed to be used mark indicating that it has a bonafide intention to use the said mark in the US.
TRADEMARK UPDATES
Jawed Habib approaches High Court for trademark infringement
The prominent celebrity hair stylist, Jawed Habib, has sought an injunction from the Bombay High Court for restraining a franchise in Chennai from using the original trademark of the salon. The move was made after the franchise failed to pay royalty and franchise renewal fees to Habib in accordance with the Franchise Agreement. The Court found that a prima face case exists and granted an interim injunction restraining the Chennai franchise from using the impugned mark. The case is now adjourned to June 30 for final hearing and disposal.
INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARK UPDATES
German Software Company sues Google for Trademark Infringement
A German Software Company has initiated a trademark infringement suit before the Irish High Court for a Europe wide injunction to prevent Google from using the mark Team Drive. The Software Company, Team Drive claims that Google infringes its trademark rights in the mark TEAM DRIVE by adopting the same name for its new software. According to Google’s counsels, the mark TEAM DRIVE is not used in a trademark sense and is used merely to describe the function of its Google Drive Product. The case is now posted for further hearings.
TRADEMARK LICENSING UPDATES
Snoop Dogg enters into merchandising agreement with Puck Hcky
The American rapper Snoop Dogg has entered into a merchandising deal with the customer hockey apparel brand Puck Hcky for manufacturing and distributing Snoop puck collections. The new collection aims to pay homage to Snoop Dogg’s illustrative career as well as the street culture of Los Angeles.
DOMAIN NAME DISPUTES
Amazon obtains favorable order against Amazonsales.in
In a recent arbitral proceeding under the INDRP Rules, the e-commerce giant Amazon has successfully restrained a Pune based entity from using the domain www.amazonsales.in. The Arbitrator found that the registration and use of the domain www.amazonsales.in would deceive the public and ordered the domain to be transferred to Amazon.
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION UPDATES
European Union’s agenda for Geographical Indication remains highly concerning says US
The 2017 Special 301 Report on Intellectual property, published by the Office of United States Trade Representative, states that the Geographical Indication agenda of EU imposes barriers on market access for the US made goods and services that rely on the use of common names. The report points out that EU has identified hundreds of common product names like parmesan, gorgonzola, asiago or feta as GI which should be exclusively used by manufacturers from a specific region. The Report alleges that these practices of EU have resulted in a significant deficit in food and agricultural trade with the EU.
BIP TIP OF THE WEEK
Well-defined post-termination obligations must be included in all franchise or license agreements to prevent unauthorized usage of the brand after termination or expiry of the arrangement. The Franchise or license agreements should clearly mention that the franchisee or the licensee shall not be allowed to use the brand after the expiry or termination of the Agreement. Moreover, specific provisions relating to destruction of all materials that mentions the licensed brand should be included.
