Any body can use trademark by the name of KRISHNA.

The MCA rejection our name stating the reason that name  included a registered trademark/application to trademark.

I googled the same came across an interesting case study which i found very helpful. So, i though to share the same with you.

BHOLE BABA MILK FOOD INDUSTRIES (Appellant) LTD VS PARUL FOOD SPECIALITIES PVT. LTD (respondant).

Decided by Hon'ble Delhi high court on 17th October 2011.

The key highlights of the case is as under-

Delhi High Court’s Division Bench recently upheld the Single Judge Bench Judgment declining the claim of the Appellant, Bhole Baba Milk Food Industries Ltd. (a diary products manufacturer) of exclusive right over the use of word ‘Krishna’ for dairy products.

The Appellant has obtained registration of the mark “KRISHNA” having pictorial reflection of Lord Krishna standing on a lotus flower for dairy products which was falling in Class-29 of the Trade Mark Act vide Trade Mark No. 597519. The appellant was engaged in manufacturing ghee, milk products and dairy products since 1992. It has also obtained registration of the label mark “KRISHNA” in the same class vide Trade Mark Nos 783679 and 599070. Following is the representation of the mark 597519 and 599070 respectively.

The Appellant accused Parul Food Specialties Ltd (Respondent, also a dairy products manufacturer), of infringing on its trademark “Krishna” The Respondent were selling ghee under the mark “PARUL’S LORD KRISHNA”, “Parul’s” and “Lord” having a font so small that only the word “KRISHNA” catches the eye due to its prominence. The Appellant further emphasised that the word “KRISHNA” has become a “well known” within the meaning of Section 2(zg) of Trade Marks Act .

On January 19, 2011, the Single Judge, Justice Rajiv Shakhdar refused to give exclusive trademark rights of the word “Krishna” and declined to give relief to stop the Respondent from using mark “Krishna”, but directed the Respondent to change the font size and to print the words “PARUL’S LORD” with the same prominence as the word “KRISHNA” so that it would not be confused with the products of the appellants.

The Appellant thereon appealed to the Division Bench, consisting of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Sunil Gaur. The division bench upheld  the single-judge bench’s order against Bhola Baba’s plea and said: “We are in agreement with the view taken by the learned single judge not only for the reasons given by the learned single judge but the additional reason, as in the instant case, a deity may be associated with a particular kind of goods.  It is common knowledge that Lord Krishna, as a child, was known for his love of milk and butter and thus Lord Krishna is closely linked with milk and butter and this would certainly dilute a proprietary claim projected by any person, in relation to Krishna with dairy products”.

The Division bench further highlighted that the registration obtained by the Appellant is not per-se to the word “KRISHNA” but is to the word “KRISHNA” written in a distinctive form. The Division bench concluded that “The distinctiveness to which the appellant can lay a claim is to what it has got registered as a whole and such registration cannot possibly give an exclusive statutory right to the appellant to a particular word of common origin”.

However, our issue regarding the name availability is pending. But anyways, i hope the above case will be benificial to you for future reference.

Any thoughts and opinions are most welcome.