The Indian Express and anr v. Chandra Prakash Shivhare - (High Court of Bombay) (23 Oct 2015)

Injunction granted against title phonetically similar to ‘Indian Express’

Intellectual Property Rights

The Bombay High Court accepted arguments that the Defendant’s use of the title ‘Indian Express’ in Devnagari script for its newspaper infringed the trade mark registered in favour of The Indian Express Limited. It noted that the longevity, widespread use and daily publication of the mark made it well known, particularly given the prevalence of the internet over which it made available its ‘epaper’. The Court granted injunction against use of the phrase ‘Indian Express’ by the Defendant for being phonetically, structurally and aurally similar to that of the popular news daily. It expressed bewilderment over the Defendant’s choice of name for the paper given the plethora of publications, and subsequent failure to explain his “unbidden epiphany” in choosing the same.

Tags : INDIAN EXPRESS TITLE TRADE MARK