Builders Beware!!

It is a trend among builders and developers to name their buildings or construction projects using elegant or inspiring terms like Golden Petals, Corals, Aspire, Paradise, Sunrise, River Views, Valleys, and so on! This ‘christening ceremony’ is common amongst builders but they fail to conduct a trademark search before adopting these names.

A dispute on these lines arose between the marks “Central Park” and “Godrej Central Park”. The proprietors of both the marks, Central Park Estates Pvt. Ltd. (“Central Park”) and Godrej Skyline Developers Pvt. Ltd. (“Godrej”) are engaged in the business of building construction and real estate. While Central Park is the registered proprietor of the trademark “Central Park”, Godrej started using a device mark containing the words "Godrej Central Park" for its new project. Central Park filed a suit against Godrej at the Delhi High Court for trademark infringement and passing off. In the case of Central Park Estates Pvt. Ltd. v. Godrej Skyline Developers Pvt. Ltd., the Delhi High Court held that 2 marks are deceptively similar if the essential features of one mark are copied from the other. Godrej argued that the term “Central Park” was a generic term and was common to the trade. However, the Court held that since Godrej had itself applied for trademark registration, it cannot now plead that the mark is generic. The Court restrained Godrej from further using the mark.

This case is a classic example of developers and builders not ensuring that the marks adopted by them are available for use and are not registered trademarks of others engaged in the same trade. Development projects are commonly named using names of flowers, rivers, valleys, planets, precious stones or terms like elegance, beauty, peace, etc. which at first appear to be “common to trade”. However, this is a misconception. With the increase in awareness of trademark laws, many developers are registering their project names or building names as trademarks. Hence, a hasty christening of projects by builders/ developers may result in unintentional trademark infringement and an expensive brawl. It is therefore important to be vigilant in checking brand names for their availability before using them as project names or building names. Builders Beware!