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The swimsuit, filed towards Anahita Irani and Shapoor Irani, house owners of the Pune-based Burger King meals joint, sought Rs 20 lakh as damages. (Picture: Reuters)
US large Burger King Company has misplaced a 13-year-old authorized battle towards its namesake eatery in Maharashtra’s Pune after a district court docket right here dismissed a swimsuit filed by the corporate alleging trademark infringement.
Pune district choose Sunil Vedpathak, within the order on August 16, stated the city-based eatery ‘Burger King’ was working even earlier than the US burger joint opened store in India and that the latter didn’t show the native meals outlet had infringed its trademark.
The court docket dismissed the 2011 swimsuit filed by the Burger King Company, searching for a everlasting injunction restraining infringement of trademark, passing off (the trademark as theirs), in addition to financial damages.
The swimsuit, filed towards Anahita Irani and Shapoor Irani, house owners of the Pune-based Burger King meals joint, additionally sought Rs 20 lakh as damages.
On the plaintiff firm’s demand for everlasting injunction, the court docket stated the Burger King Company began to offer companies by eating places underneath its trademark Burger King in India notably within the 12 months 2014, whereas the city-based eatery was utilizing the trademark ‘Burger King’ to offer restaurant companies since 1991-92.
“Defendants have been utilizing the commerce identify for his or her restaurant since about 1992. The pleadings put forth by the plaintiff are completely silent about how clients have been confused due to make use of of commerce mark Burger King by defendants to their restaurant,” it stated.
The court docket stated the Burger King Company has “miserably failed” to show that the eatery right here had infringed its trademark Burger King whereas operating the restaurant in Pune.
Since there was completely no proof concerning proof of infringement of the plaintiff firm’s trademark and precise injury brought about to it, the corporate was not entitled for any damages, it stated.
“Thus, within the absence of cogent proof, I discover that the plaintiff isn’t entitled for damages, rendition of accounts and the aid of perpetual injunction,” the order stated.
The plaintiff’s first Indian BURGER KING restaurant was opened in New Delhi on November 9, 2014, the court docket stated.
The plaintiff firm was based in 1954 and manages and operates a worldwide chain of 13,000 quick meals eating places in additional than 100 international locations and US territories worldwide.
The primary BURGER KING franchised restaurant in Asia was opened in 1982 and there are at the moment greater than 1,200 of those eating places in Asia, the swimsuit claimed.
The corporate has been utilizing the trademark ‘Burger King’ since 1954 and it’s identified globally, the swimsuit stated.
The corporate stated the prime quality of its services and products supplied by its quick meals eating places has made the mark BURGER KING achieve super popularity and goodwill.
Thus any adoption or use of an an identical mark or a deceptively related mark by any dealer can be dishonest, malafide and would trigger the corporate enormous loss, injury and hurt to its goodwill and enterprise and popularity on account of illegal acts of the defendants that are unquantifiable and irreparable.
The Iranis opposed the swimsuit, saying it was filed with malafide intentions and to discourage enterprise people who find themselves bonafide customers and retailers.
They stated other than the identify Burger King, there was completely no similarity within the plaintiff’s trademark and their very own store identify.
The Iranis additional alleged that because the swimsuit was filed, they’ve been acquired harassing and intimidating calls.
They sought Rs 20 lakh compensation from the US firm for the psychological ache and agony they’ve gone by.
The court docket, nevertheless, refused any financial aid to them too, noting that other than oral proof, no different proof was submitted to substantiate their claims.
First Revealed: Aug 18 2024 | 2:00 PM IST
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