This week’s trademark updates are as follows –
Trademark Lawsuit filed against HGTV’s “Ugliest House in America.”
A lawsuit has been filed by HomeVestors of America, Inc., against Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. for infringement of the former’s trademark “The Ugliest House of the Year”. The HGTV show’s treatment of homeowners is not representative of how HomeVestors franchisees engage with clients, although the show’s title is remarkably similar to HomeVestors’ annual “Ugliest House of the Year” contest.
CoorsTek Defeats CeramTec in Battle to Market “Pink” Ceramic Hip Components
CoorsTek Bioceramics announced that the US PTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) has ruled in its favor cancelling CeramTec GmbH’s trademarks in the color pink. The decision reaffirms CoorsTek Bioceramics’s right to market and sell CeraSurf ceramic hip replacement components in the United States.
CoorsTek Bioceramics (previously C5 MedicalWerks) initiated the lawsuit in 2014 in response to CeramTec’s attempt to enforce its claimed trademark and trade dress in the color pink for its ceramic hip implant components. In its order, the TTAB determined that the pink color covered by CeramTec’s trademark registrations is functional and, consequently not registrable.
Commercial Court restrains sale of adhesive named ‘Fast Kwik’
A commercial court in Ahmedabad has temporarily restrained Manisha Marketing from selling their adhesive under the name Fast Kwik after Pidilite Industries Ltd lodged objections stating that the label looks deceptively similar to its product Fevi Kwik, thereby infringing on its trademark rights.
Pidilite filed a lawsuit against Manisha Marketing’s owners earlier this year, alleging that they were selling their product under the Fast Kwik name. Its label, trade name, and appearance are similar to its brand names Fevi Kwik, Fevicol, and Fevistik, which it has been making and selling since 1969 and which has built a huge amount of market goodwill and reputation. Pidilite argued that its label has been registered under the Design Act and that it has filed a trademark application for Fevi Kwik. It was stated that if Manisha Marketing were permitted to promote its products under a similar label, consumer confusion would ensue.
Assam’s “Gamusa” gets GI tag
The traditional Assam cloth ‘gamusa’ or ‘gamosa’ was granted geographical indications (GI) status by the Indian government on Tuesday. The product will now be afforded legal protection against unauthorized usage.
The application for gamusa was submitted to the GI Registry on 16 October 2017 by the Institute of Handicraft Development in the Golaghat district of Assam.
Authored by Lavanya Anand (Associate, BananaIP Counsels) and Anjana Gopinath (Intern).
This post is brought to you by BananaIP Counsels’ Trademarks and Copyright Attorneys
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This Weekly Trademark Updates Bulletin is brought to you by the Trademarks and Copyright Division of BananaIP Counsels, a Top IP Firm in India. Led by Sanjeeth Hegde, BananaIP Counsels’ trademark and copyright 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: Weekly Trademark Update.
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