High Court of Bombay

Reliance Industries Ltd. v. Concord Enviro Systems Pvt. Ltd.

MANU/MH/1077/2016

30.06.2016

Intellectual Property Rights

Reliance claim of ‘mirrored’ logo rejected

Bombay High Court rejected claims by Reliance Industries against the infringement of its registered trade mark by defendant’s use of its deceptively similar logo.

At the very outset, the court discarded the test of side-by-side comparisons, as deliberation would rest on the subtle elements of similarity and not an outright comparison. It noted, “resemblance need not be such as would deceive persons who should see two marks placed side-by-side”.

Instead, it borrowed the question: “what would he normally retain in his mind after looking at the trade mark? What would be the salient features of the trade mark which in future would lead him to associate the particular goods with that trade mark?”

The court accepted defendant’s contention that there was no similarity between the two. It also accepted that a comparison between the logos by reversing defendant’s image was too convoluted a mode of comparison and “no average man with imperfect recollection is going to look at the ‘rotated’ mark”.

Moreover, the logos were used for distinct products: the defendant engaged in the development and installation of waste water treatment. Customers availing its niche services would not purchase its goods and services without deliberation.

Relevant

National Chemicals v. Reckitt & Colman MANU/MH/0016/1991
S.M. Dyechem Ltd. v. Cadbury India Ltd. MANU/SC/0407/2000

Tags : logo mirror water treatment

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