AHMEDABAD: Acting on a complaint by a multinational conglomerate, a court at Mirzapur has temporarily restrained a local company from using trademark and tradename ‘Adani’ for sale of its products.
S B Adani Family Trust, Adani Enterprise Ltd and its two other companies have sued a local company P V Adani Juggler Hawk Industries Pvt Ltd, accusing it of infringement on its trademark rights by ‘flagrantly and illegally’ using word Adani to sell fuels like bio-diesel, natural gas, LGP, lubricating oils and solar panels etc. The trust has urged the court to permanently restrain the later from using the trademark Adani, for it has been the trademark used by the multinational since 1998. The firm, which came into existence last year, has been temporarily ordered not to promote and market its business under Adani trademark on any internet-based platform.
Adani Enterprise and the Trust contended that they are the registered proprietor of the trademark Adani in various classes of goods and services. The trademark is used by approximately 80 companies of Adani group. P V Adani Juggler Hawk Industries Pvt Ltd adopted the trademark for identical goods and it is a dishonest practice on its part to eat upon the goodwill and reputation by passing off its goods as that of Adani group’s.
The plaintiff Adani Trust has also claimed that the defendant company has filed trademark application for registration of trademark with word Adani. However, the trademark registrar has raised objection because the trademark had already been registered in that particularly class. It was argued that the action is causing confusion and deception amongst traders and customers who would perceive the other group as one of the group companies of Adani. It was further submitted that the defendant company is also tagging social media page of Adani Solar on its Instagram posts to attract the followers of Adani Solar. It was highlighted how the trademark Adani has been written prominently whereas P V is mentioned in very small size in the name of the company. The Adani Trust and its companies have urged the court to restrain the defendant from using trademark Adani with any suffix or prefix.
Additional sessions and district judge Amandeep Sibia observed that once the prior usage is established, the court must restrain the defendant from usurping the goodwill created by the plaintiff by long and consistent usage of the trade-mark in question.