Court dismisses Burger King's trademark infringement suit against local namesake
district court in Pune has dismissed an application filed by the US fast-food major Burger King Corporation (BKC) to restrain its local namesake from using the trademark ‘Burger King’
In an over 13-year-old case, district Judge Sunil G. Vedpathak, while dismissing the US fast-food major’s petition also dismissed the counterclaim filed by the Pune-based firm.
“Admittedly plaintiff (BKC) has registered its trade mark Burger King under class 42 pertaining to restaurant services as of October 6, 2006. So, considering the fact that defendants are prior users of the trademark in question, I am of the opinion that the plaintiff has no cause of action to seek relief of perpetual injunction,” said the court in his 57-page order. “Thus, in the absence of cogent evidence, I find that the plaintiff is not entitled to damages, rendition of accounts and the relief of perpetual injunction,” it further added.
The US-based fast-food chain ‘Burger King’ opened its first store in India in November 2014. The Pune eatery informed the court that they have been operating since 1989 and using the name ‘Burger King’ since 1992.
Originally in this case, Burger King Corporation had approached the district court against the city-based couple Anahita and Shapoor Irani for allegedly infringing its trademark ‘Burger King’ by using the same name and sought the court’s intervention to restrain the local food store from allegedly infringing its trademark, passing off as well as damages.
Passing off in intellectual property rights (IPR) law
