{"id":96241,"date":"2017-01-02T09:30:22","date_gmt":"2017-01-02T04:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=96241"},"modified":"2017-02-27T16:34:47","modified_gmt":"2017-02-27T11:04:47","slug":"trans-border-reputation-exists-when-public-at-large-is-aware-of-the-trademark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2017\/01\/02\/trans-border-reputation-exists-when-public-at-large-is-aware-of-the-trademark\/","title":{"rendered":"Trans-border reputation exists when public at large is aware of the trademark"},"content":{"rendered":"

Delhi High Court:<\/strong> While disposing of a passing off action, the Single Bench of Pradeep\u00a0Nandrajog, J. held that to establish trans-border reputation of a trademark, it is to be proved that\u00a0the trademark had reputation in foreign jurisdictions, and it was within the knowledge of public\u00a0at large in the domestic jurisdiction, due to its reputation abroad.<\/p>\n

In 1997, the automobile company Toyota launched World\u2019s first hybrid car \u201cPrius\u201d in Japan.\u00a0Toyota had obtained registration of the trademark Prius in different jurisdictions abroad. Toyota\u00a0contended that the Appellants had passed off its trademark Prius and had dishonestly obtained its\u00a0registration in India. Though the car was not sold in India, a trans-border reputation in the\u00a0trademark was claimed on the strength of news articles, and publications. Toyota also pleaded\u00a0that the appellants had been selling automobile parts using its registered trademarks, Toyota,\u00a0and Innova. Appellants admitted using the words Toyota and Innova on the packaging material,\u00a0but contended that the use was not as a trademark, but to inform the consumers that automobile\u00a0parts were compatible with motor vehicles manufactured by Toyota. Concerning the trade mark\u00a0Prius, appellants pleaded that since they were the first to manufacture \u2018Add on Chrome\u00a0Accessories\u2019 in India, they considered the Hindi words \u2018Pehla Prayas\u2019 (first attempt) for their\u00a0business. They added that since a trademark has to be catchy, they searched dictionaries for a\u00a0word that can be associated with \u2018Pehla Prayas\u2019, and they chanced upon the word Prius, which\u00a0means \u2018prior\u2019 or \u2018former\u2019.<\/p>\n

The Court noted that the event of Prius\u2019 launch was reported as a news item in different countries\u00a0including India but not with such prominence that the public at large became aware of the same.\u00a0It also observed that the public confidence in the Prius car was feeble since the car had been\u00a0recalled many times. Thus, the Court concluded that no trans-border reputation had been\u00a0established by Toyota in the trademark Prius. It further added that the appellants were entitled to\u00a0inform the consumer that the auto parts were adapted for use in Toyota cars, in conformity with\u00a0Section 30(2)(d) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. The Court also found that the appellant\u2019s\u00a0justification for adopting the trademark Prius was logical and credible, and held that if a word is\u00a0publici juris and a person gives good justification as to how he appropriated it, unless the\u00a0testimony of the person is discredited, a Court would have no option but to accept the statement\u00a0made on oath. [Prius Auto Industries Ltd v. Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, 2016 SCC OnLine Del 6405<\/a>, decided on December 23, 2016]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Delhi High Court: While disposing of a passing off action, the Single Bench of Pradeep\u00a0Nandrajog, J. held that to establish trans-border reputation <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[3221,12591],"class_list":["post-96241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-highcourts","tag-Trademark","tag-trans-border-reputation"],"yoast_head":"\nTrans-border reputation exists when public at large is aware of the trademark | SCC Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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