Indian Trademark Statistics for July (Fourth Week), Odisha Rasagola Gets GI Tag, Kanye West Trademarks Sunday Service, New York Fries to be opened in India and more, brought to you by the Trademark Attorneys at BananaIP (BIP) Counsels.
TRADEMARK QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“A product can be quickly outdated, but a successful brand is timeless” – Stephen King
INDIAN TRADEMARK STATISTICS
Last week, the Indian Trademark Office have had a slow work pace. The total number of applications disposed through show cause hearings has decreased by eight percent (8%). Similarly, the total hearing notices issued in the trademark journal has decreased by twenty three percent (23%). However, there has been an increase of twenty three percent (23%) in the total applications published in the trademark journal.
Weekly Indian Trademark Statistics
| Particulars | Last Week | This Week | Change in % |
| Total Trademark Applications Examined by Trademark Office | 13095 | 11197 | A decrease of 14% |
| Total Applications Disposed through Show Cause Hearings | 5916 | 5420 | A decrease of 8% |
| Total Applications Published in the Trademark Journal | 6522 | 8027 | An increase of 23% |
| Total Registrations Granted | 7644 | 6836 | A decrease of 10% |
| Total Hearing Notices Issued | 9628 | 7431 | A decrease of 23% |
| Total Renewals Notices Issued | 2351 | 1766 | A decrease of 25% |
Trademark Statistics by Office
Total Number of New Applications Received from July 25th, 2019 to July 31st, 2019
| Sr. No | Jurisdiction | New Applications | Examined | Published | Registered |
| 1 | AHMEDABAD | 810 | 652 | 839 | 738 |
| 2 | CHENNAI | 1144 | 774 | 1412 | 1365 |
| 3 | DELHI | 2116 | 1624 | 2422 | 1580 |
| 4 | KOLKATA | 424 | 268 | 321 | 281 |
| 5 | MUMBAI | 1416 | 1042 | 1782 | 1495 |
| Total | 5910 | 4360 | 6776 | 5459 |
Yearly Trademark Statistics
Trademark Statistics from January 1st, 2019 to July 31st, 2019
- Total Number of Trademark Applications Filed – 199201
- Total Number of Trademark Applications Examined – 94836
- Total Number of Trademark Applications Published – 110858
- Total Number of Trademark Applications Registered – 175177
INDIAN TRADEMARK UPDATES
Exxon Mobil’s Trademark War with Exoncorp
Exxon Mobil Corporation, one of the world’s largest multinational oil and gas company, filed a trademark infringement suit against Exoncorp Private Limited for using the trademark EXON as its corporate name for rendering information technology services. Exxon commenced its business in 1882 and has registrations in over 160 jurisdictions including India where the operations started since 1982. In November 2018, Exxon came across the existence of Exoncorp which was operating the website www.exoncorp.com, and had a presence in various social media platforms. Exoncorp in reply to the suit, defended that the trademark EXXON in not registered in class 42 which relates to IT services and the term exoncorp has been coined from a scientific term. The Delhi High Court observed that the trademark EXXON is a well-known mark and accordingly Exoncorp cannot use it even for technology services. Therefore, the Court issued a permanent injunction restraining Exoncorp from using the term EXON.
INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARK UPDATES
Kanye West Trademarks Sunday Services
Kanye West, the famous American rapper, has filed new a trademark application for the phrase ‘Sunday Services’ with the USPTO. The mark has been filed for clothing, footwear as well as conducting entertainment services. The filing follows his recent performance at the Coachella music festival, where he also retailed his church-themed apparel with the phrases “Jesus Walks” and “Holy Spirit”.
Brazil Joins Madrid Protocol
Brazil has become the latest country to join the Madrid Protocol. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) received Brazil’s accession document to the Protocol and will come into force on 2nd October, 2019. Madrid Protocol is a WIPO administered international trademark system which allows a trademark owner from a member state to get protection in member countries through a single application. The entry of Brazil makes it the 5th country to become a part of Madrid Protocol from Latin America and the Caribbean region.
BRAND LICENSING UPDATES
Heidi Bienvenida Season2 on Yes Kidz
Yes Kidz, the Israeli television channel for children, entered into a license agreement with Mondo TV Iberomerica, a division of Mondo TV, an Italian production and distribution animation company, to air season 2 of teen comedy series, Heidi Bienveinda. The three year license agreement commences from September 2019 and provides for Yes Kidz to air season 2 of Heidi Bienvenida, featuring the adventures of a happy, carefree girl who leaves her cherished mountain home to live in the big city. The first season of the drama was launched in Israel in September 2017 and was a big hit, making Israel one of the first non-Latin American countries to air the series.
SUBSURF Surfs into India
SYBO Games’ “Subsurf”, a consumer and lifestyle brand, based on one of the most downloaded mobile games, Subway Surfer, is all set to make its entry into India. Dream Theatre, a brand management and licensing representation company, has secured the official licensing and merchandising representation of SYBO. As a representing agent, Dream Theatre will establish and grow the licensing business in India and South Asia. Subway Surfers was the first game to reach one billion downloads on Google Play and the game crossed 2.5 billion downloads worldwide earlier this year with 262 million downloads just in India.
FRANCHISING UPDATES
New York Fries in India
New York Fries, a Canadian quick service restaurant specializing in fresh-cut fries and poutine, is all set to open its first franchise in New Delhi. This will be a part of a multi-franchise deal with partners, Naveen and Anita Vasisht, Shailendra Kaushik and Sameer Sharma, who intend to open 35 restaurants across Northern India in the next five years. Established in 1984, New York Fries has successfully expanded to Bahrain, China, Egypt, Macau, Saudi Arab, Oman, Qatar and Panama and UAE with total of 45 international units.
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION UPDATES
Odisha Rasagola Gets GI Tag
The Geographical Indication Registry of India recently granted GI tag to the Odisha’s variant of Rasagola. This tag comes amidst a years-long debate between Odisha and West Bengal over the origin of the sweet. In 2017, West Bengal had received the GI tag for ‘Banglar Rasogolla’ after which Odisha moved the Geographical Indication registry for the GI tag for its own version of Rasagola. The application was filed by The Odisha Small Industries Corporation Limited (OSIC) and Utkal Mistanna Byabasayee Samiti in 2018.
Authored and compiled by Shreya Chaddha & Uma T.S
About BIP’s Trademark Attorneys
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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