Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, May 16, 2006 |
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Marketing
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IPR Trademark registration: Time for a wake-up call Vinod Mathew
Mumbai , May 15 Not too long ago, when Amul Innerwear started a campaign for its banians and underwear, a number of advertising executives from the media side were caught unawares. But it did not take long for them to sort out that Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, that was using the Amul brand to sell dairy products across the country, had not diversified into manufacturing vests and briefs. While both these companies here are desi, there are other instances of Indian companies squaring off against MNCs in a bid to protect their trademarks/ brands. Thus, there is the instance of a domestic footwear company joining issue with Pepsi over registration of trademark `Lehar'. In its draft prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India in February, Lawreshwar Polymers Ltd argued: "We have entered into an agreement for assignment of trademark from Jai Narayan Mohan Lal and Sons (JNMLS) for a period of 10 years. The registration of the trademark is under process; an opposition has been filed by Pepsi Foods Private Ltd, opposing the registration of the trademark in the name of JNMLS." Lawreshwar Polymers says it has been using the Lehar Footwear trademark for the past 11 years, its trademark registration application pending since 28 February 1995. When Pepsi entered India in late 1980s, it rode into Indian hearts with hybrid brand `Lehar Pepsi' after getting caught in legal tangle over the original brand `Era Pepsi'. Later Pepsi dropped the word Lehar from flagship cola drink when use of foreign brand was allowed in early 90s. It is a moot question whether a buyer of Pepsi beverage or snacks would confuse Lehar chappals with mainline Pepsi products. Similarly, Japan's Honda Motors Ltd recently pleaded with Calcutta High Court to restrain two-wheeler major TVS Motors from using the registered brand `TVS Star City'. The contention was that there was an infringement on the trademark City under which it sells premium segment cars in India. The Japanese company alleged that an impression is being created with the purchasing public that the TVS product is a licensed product of Honda; the charge was that TVS intended to trade on the goodwill and reputation of Honda and its brands `City' and its variants. While there are a host of other companies that use the word `City` or its variations in India, Honda is particularly upset that TVS is using the C word. Indian companies are all the more vulnerable as many of them have not cared to register the trademarks and brands for ages. For instance, Patel Engineering Ltd that has been in existence since 1949, filed for registration of the service mark Patel with Registrar of Trademarks, Mumbai, only on February 16, 2006 in the run-up to preparing draft red herring prospectus for its initial public offering. Clearly, it may be time for industry and trade associations to launch a wake-up campaign for enterprises that have not yet appreciated the virtues of registering their trademarks and brands. On the flip side, chambers catering to offshore business may do well to advise foreign companies to shed their paranoia over usage of generic words as part of Indian brands.
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