Trademark Infringement in Accordance with Indian Laws

In the 21st century, people all over the world are label oriented where consumerism is at its peak which is why using a delusive label or mark can affect the market for the original brand at a greater scale. Where a recognized label is used without acquiescence from the proprietor, the proprietor looks for the legal remedies and actions to secure its reputation and goodwill in the industry. A trademark is referred to a mark capable of being presented uniquely and distinctively such that it is capable of distinguishing the goods and services of a person from those of the others. The unapproved usage of the trademark is a serious tort or wrong which requires legal action and the owner of the trademark is entitled to remedy. The Act provides absolute privilege for using the trade name to the brand owners. Trademark infringement is enshrined in Section 29 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. In layman words, if the entitlements of the proprietor for the registered trademarks are violated in any manner, they can seek legal action under trademark infringement. A trademark provides unlimited and absolute rights of use to the proprietor of the trade name for their commercial activities falling under the specific class in which it is registered. Any unauthorized use of any registered mark in the course of trade will be a violation of the rights of the trademark owner and will be called as an infringement of a trademark. Most of the cases of trademark infringement include misleading and deceptively similar or identical trade name for related goods and services, which creates a fallacious impression with the registered trademark. The grounds for support in proving a trademark infringement are the intent to create confusion to mislead, and dishonest intentions. The proprietor of the registered trademark can institute civil and criminal actions against the infringing party for malicious practices. The owner of the registered trademark may opt for multiple remedies against the unlicensed use by the third party. A civil suit can be instituted by the proprietor of the trademark before the district court in whose jurisdiction s/he resides. Civil remedies available to a proprietor are in the form of an injunction which restrains a person from unlicensed use of the registered trademark. The court shall accord protection to the trademark proprietor through a temporary or a permanent stay order. For instance, in the matter of pharmaceutical giants, Wyeth Holdings Corp. & Anr. vs. Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., the plaintiff who was the proprietor of the trademark ‘PACITANE’ registered in class 05 of medicinal and pharmaceutical preparations. The defendant was utilizing and enjoying the mark ‘PARKITANE’ for an article of similar nature. The plaintiff instituted a suit of infringement against the defendant for illegally using the mark ‘PARKITANE’. Since, the defendants in the matter did not manifest any search of the register before adopting the impugned mark, prima facie using of the mark was dishonest. The court ruled in favour of the plaintiff and also granted an injunction to Wyeth Holdings Corp. Few of the other remedies available to the trademark owner are in the form of compensation with or without an order for the return of infringed labels and erasure. A criminal action may also be initiated under the Act that provides for filing the FIR through police on infringer by the proprietor of the trademark. Also, In the matter of M/S Castrol Limited & Anr. v. Iqbal Singh Chawla & Anr. the Court proclaimed that if the disputed trademarks (registered mark ACTIV of the plaintiff & LUMAX ACTIVE being used by the defendant) are compared then there is no such identical or misleading similarities. Although if the trademarks along with the monogram are compared it is clearly stated that the usage of the trademark ACTIVE by the Defendant is misleading and for the passing of infringed goods on the repute of the Plaintiffs. Hence, the court passed an order terminating the defendants by way of an injunction from using the mark ACTIV and/or ACTIVE in the similar formats, packaging, design, shape of the article and configuration as that of the Plaintiffs. Further, an order to the sum of ₹2,00,000 was awarded to M/S Castrol Limited in opposition to Iqbal Singh Chawla. In India, the knowledge and awareness to safeguard a tradename through register are growing. Although the owners are still passive about the unlicensed usage of their registered trademark. Violations of the proprietary rights over trademarks can occur even internally to an organisation, which affect the reputation, goodwill and value of the brand as well as the industry-share of the owner’s business. With the assistance of a Trademark lawyer, one may retrieve and recompense all the damages occurred due to infringement.