The Ashok Leyland Trademark suit up for the Judgment

The Madras HC upheld its order in the Ashok Leyland Trademark infringement suit against the Blue Hill Logistics Pvt Ltd. The High Court agreed to the order for granting a temporary injunction in this case. It is evident that Blue Hill Logistics Pvt Ltd filed an appeal against the December 21st  Judgment order in this regard but has faced disappointment after the court dismissed their appeal. Ashok Leyland affirmed that they launched Luxura Bus in the year 2006 and the  registered trademark “Luxura” owned by them has been infringed by Blue Hill Logistics which eventually also launched Volvo bus services (designed by Dilip Chaabria Design Private Ltd) between Bangalore and Chennai under the disputed trademark “Luxuria”.

On the contrary Blue Hill supported its actions by the fact that Ashok Leyland cannot monopolize the word “Luxury” and its variants. Moreover, Blue Hill Logistics also mentioned in their supporting statements that the Ashok Leyland’s trademark primarily signifies “Goods” while their brand name pertains to “Services”.While understanding the plaintiff’s supportive statements and defendant’s appeal, the division bench finally reached on the decision that Plaintiff’s ( Ashok Leyland) held the proprietorship of the registered Trademark and any infringing use of the trademarked name can cause Loss to the Plaintiff’s brand and business. Hence, the court finally arrived with the decision of granting temporary injunction in this case. 

(Image by Dimitri Castrique)

ChaCha files trademark infringement suit over HTC smartphone

HTC is sued by the mobile Q&A platform ChaCha for trademark infringement over the HTC ChaCha : a new smartphone that features a smart Facebook button. ChaCha search Inc pursuing the court for injunction against HTC, and it is also requesting an order for unspecified damages.

ChaCha holds a registered Trademark in the United States since 2007.On the other hand HTC ChaCha is android based smartphone targeting the market in spring this year and is gaining popularity amongst the Facebook fans due to its  easy “f” key that users can press to automatically share content via Facebook. 

Meanwhile in determining the probability or likelihood of confusion, the major factor includes: "Whether or not the goods or services using the same mark compete with one another. Marks that are used on similar or related goods or services are more likely to confuse consumers. Even where the plaintiff's products are not exactly similar, the court may in some cases consider how likely the plaintiff is in the future to sell similar products. If at all, the firms are having overlapping consumer base then it becomes difficult to solicit the defendant. Having said that , it will be interesting to watch the case's outcome in the near future , as it might be a calculated risk on the defendant's side.

(Image by Peter Skadberg)