Indian Trademark Statistics for February (First Week), 20th Century Fox in Legal Battle Over its Upcoming Movie, Valentine Makeup Collection by Kylie Jenner, Amul Sends Legal Notice to Google, Pithora Arts GI and more, brought to you by the Trademark Attorneys at BananaIP (BIP) Counsels.
TRADEMARK QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Within every brand is a product, but not every product is a brand”- David Ogilvy
INDIAN TRADEMARK STATISTICS
The Indian Trademark Office has had a mixed week. The total number of applications examined by trademark office has increased by five six percent (6%). The total number of hearing notices issued has increased by fifty one percent (51%). However, the total renewals notices issued has decreased by twenty seven percent (27%).
Weekly Indian Trademark Statistics
| Particulars | Last Week | This Week | Change in % |
| Total Trademark Applications Examined by Trademark Office | 7464 | 7932 | An increase of 6% |
| Total Applications Disposed through Show Cause Hearings | 6946 | 6015 | A decrease of 13% |
| Total Applications Published in the Trademark Journal | 7883 | 7888 | An increase of 0.06% |
| Total Registrations Granted | 8529 | 4884 | A decrease of 43% |
| Total Hearing Notices Issued | 5950 | 9001 | An increase of 51% |
| Total Renewals Notices Issued | 2881 | 2110 | A decrease of 27% |
Trademark Statistics by Office
Total Number of New Applications Received from January 30th to February 6th, 2019
| Sr. No | Jurisdiction | New Applications | Examined | Published | Registered |
| 1 | AHMEDABAD | 893 | 481 | 836 | 509 |
| 2 | CHENNAI | 1384 | 640 | 1735 | 1196 |
| 3 | DELHI | 2491 | 1410 | 2287 | 1399 |
| 4 | KOLKATA | 443 | 239 | 332 | 223 |
| 5 | MUMBAI | 1750 | 901 | 1529 | 1227 |
| Total | 6961 | 3671 | 6719 | 4554 |
Yearly Trademark Statistics
Trademark Statistics from January 1st, 2019 to February 6th, 2019
- Total Number of Trademark Applications Filed – 34189
- Total Number of Trademark Applications Examined – 19052
- Total Number of Trademark Applications Published – 32302
- Total Number of Trademark Applications Registered – 25561
INTERESTING BRAND NEWS
Chunky Gets Registration
Chunky Soup might have been a term used to describe how hearty your soup is, but not anymore. The Campbell Soup Company, aka, Campbell’s has gotten registration for the word ‘Chunky’ for its soup line. The USPTO, has provided the registration for the mark despite it being descriptive in nature. However, Campbell’s had left no stone unturned to provide enough evidence that the public associates the term with the soup company. Campbell’s has been using the mark Chunky since 1988.
INDIAN TRADEMARK UPDATES
Amul Slaps Legal Notice to Google
The dairy major, Amul Milk Union Limited, has sent a cease and desist notice to Google India asking it to discontinue displaying fake and fraudulent websites carrying Amul’s trademark. Amul, in its notice stated that they were receiving a lot of complaints from the public regarding the fake websites/domain names in the name of Amul issuing fake job letters and forms for obtaining Amul franchises, thereby duping people and making unlawful gains. Amul alleged that the search engine is allowing the display of such fraudulent websites by using its paid promotion services without any background checks. Amul has also enclosed a list of fake websites in its notice.
INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARK UPDATES
20th Century Fox In Legal Battle Over Battle Angel
Media major 20th Century Fox is hit with a lawsuit by Epic Stone Group, a Florida based company over the trademark ‘Battle Angel’. Epic Stone has claimed in the lawsuit that 20th Century Fox’s upcoming movie title Alita: Battle Angel is clear trademark infringement as Epic Stone has been using the term for more than a decade. The lawsuit is requiring Fox to cease the sale of merchandise as well as turnover any profits gained from the sales. 20th Century Fox has not filed a reply to the lawsuit yet.
Japan Patent Office Bans Era Trademark Registration
In an attempt to stop unnecessary applications from being filed at its office, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) has amended its guidelines to prevent era name trademarks from being registered. Under the previous criteria, all era names could be registered barring “Heisei”, the current era in Japan, which had commenced on January 8, 1989. Under the Japanese calendar, each era name is changed once the new emperor acceded to the throne. The amendment came into being as a new era name will be unveiled by the Japanese Government on April 1, 2019 before the succession of the new king.
BRAND LICENSING UPDATES
Valentine Makeup Collection by Kylie Jenner
The youngest of the Kardashian clan, Kylie Jenner, the founder of Kylie Cosmetics has recently launched a Valentine’s Day special make-up collection. The new collection includes lip stick sets, eye shadow palette and blushes. The sets have love-themed names such as The Love Set, The Soulmate Set, and The Forever Set.
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION UPDATES
Pithora Arts GI
Pithora Art, is a tribal wall painting practiced in the Rathwa tribal community in Chhota Udepur district of Gujarat and it depicts different hues of tribal life. The 3000 year old art form is a mix of religion and myth. Pithora Art is painted on the walls of the tribal communities’ houses to appease god for peace, prosperity and eradication of obstacles from the lives of the tribes. The application was filed in January, 2019.
BANANAIP TIP OF THE WEEK
A song title can be trademarked as long as it is purely a name, title or catch phrase from the song and does not form a substantial part of the song’s original expression like a full verse.
Author: BIP Trademark Attorneys
Led by Sanjeeth Hegde, BIP’s Trademark Attorneys are among the leading experts in the field. They work on trademark filing, prosecution, management, licensing, franchising, merchandizing, litigation, and strategy for clients such as PEPS, Yash Raj Films, Dharma Productions, Essilor, Samsung and the IITs.
The weekly trademark news initiative is a part of their pro bono work and is aimed at spreading trademark 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 Trademark Attorneys at [email protected]
