LKS IPR Amicus, February 2025

The battle of the ZEOs: Mahindra’s trademark gets the green light

The Single Judge of the Delhi High Court has rejected claims of trademark infringement and refused a plea seeking to restrain Mahindra Last Mile Mobility Ltd. from selling its electric vehicle under the trademark ‘eZEO’. The dispute was over the trademarks ‘EZIO’ and ‘eZEO’ and highlights the importance of the test of passing off, brand identity, first in the market advantage and weight of established reputation. According to the authors (Kriti Sood and Chhavi Dhawan) of the article in this issue of IPR Amicus, the decision reinforces the principle that a mere registration of a trademark without actual use is not sufficient and that the house marks lead to greater exclusivity and prominence. The authors believe that the decision also draws attention to the more general ideas of trademark law, like striking a balance between protecting consumers and acknowledging legitimate use by long-standing market participants.

Read the full article here.

Ratio decidendi

• Patents – Appeal to High Court against order-in-review issued under Section 77(1)(f) when maintainable – Madras High Court
• Copyright in musical work – Second proviso to Section 17, incorporated in 2012 in respect of rights of music composers, is not applicable for agreements entered before 2012 – Delhi High Court
• Trademarks ‘BundlePe’ and ‘LatePe’ are not deceptively similar to the mark ‘PhonePe’ – No confusion possible – Madras High Court
• Trademarks – Incorporation of dominant feature, though in translated version, is infringement – Delhi High Court
• Trademarks – Use of identical registered marks when not prima facie fatal – Delhi High Court

News Nuggets

• OpenAI to face several Indian media outlets and music companies in copyright battle
• Footwear whether can be a ‘work of applied art’ – Germany’s highest court to decide
• Trademark ‘Peter England’ declared a ‘well-known trademark’
• Trademark disparagement by a subjective and biased ranking system
• India sets target of reaching 10,000 GI tags
• European Union disputes Chinese patent licensing measures

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