Our Associate, Rishikaa discusses “Delhi High Court Restrains Sri Balaji Sales Corporation From Using The Trademark ‘ODDY’ “
The Delhi High Court in Atul Paper Pvt. Ltd. v. Sri Balaji Sales Corporation, granted an ad-interim injunction to Atul Paper Pvt. Ltd. (“APPL”) against the defendant, Sri Balaji Sales Corporation’s (“SBSC”) use of the mark TM ODDY BAGS Device on and in relation to school bags.
A visual comparison of the marks is shown below:
APPL’s claim was based on the registration of its mark ODDY in the year 2015, in Classes 16 and 35. In addition to its statutory rights in the trademark, APPL also asserted its prior common law rights owing to use of the ODDY mark on and in relation to paper and stationery material since 1998 and its impressive sales figures, as well as its copyright in the ODDY Device mark.
SBSC, that had been using the mark in relation to manufacture and sale of school bags, contended that its mark could be distinguished from APPL’s ODDY mark due to the use of the words ‘TM’ and ‘BAGS’ before and after the word ODDY. SBSC further contended that the goods covered by both the marks are dissimilar as APPL does not engage in the manufacture or sale of school bags.
The court rejected SBSC’s submissions and noted that ODDY was a coined word which was not common to trade. The court held that the word ODDY formed the very core of SBSC’s mark and that merely adding the words TM and BAGS would not affect the core of the mark. The court further held that SBSC’s use of the mark on bags would be deemed to be use on goods that are related to the goods covered by APPL’s registrations since the respective goods are related/ allied.
The Court concluded that owing to SBSC’s use of an identical mark on allied goods, APPL had made out a prima facie case for the grant of an ad-interim injunction and had established that the balance of convenience was in its favor. SBSC was accordingly barred from using the TM ODDY BAGS mark until the next hearing.
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