Raichur, Jun 3 (UNI) Karnataka Transport Minister Laxman Savadi on Thursday said the state will explore all legal options against Central Registry of Trademarks recent order which ruled in favour of Kerala, allotting the short form 'KSRTC' emblem and the widely used term 'Ana Vandi' to Kerala SRTC.
However, Mr Savadi said, 'Karnataka and Kerala RTCs have never competed with each other and even if Karnataka RTC continues to use the acronym KSRTC, there will be no harm to Kerala RTC. In a federal system, States need to cooperate and resolve our differences. Neither State should make this a
prestige issue.'
He said Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC ) and Kerala Road Transport Corporation are Public Service enterprises and unlike in private firms, the company name and logo did not affect both the Corporations much.
On Wednesday evening, Kerala Transport Minister Antony Raju issued a statement stating the Trade Marks Registry issued orders under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 allotting the short form 'KSRTC' emblem and the widely used term 'Ana Vandi' to Kerala SRTC.
'The Central Registry of Trademarks has ruled in favour of Kerala, rejecting Karnataka's contention that Kerala must be barred from using the acronym,' Mr Raju said in a Facebook post.
Both Karnataka and Kerala SRTCs have been using the acronym KSRTC for many decades now. However, Karnataka RTC registered the acronym and its logo with the Controller General of Patents, Designs and
Trademarks and issued a notice to Kerala RTC asking it not to use the acronym as they had patented it in 2014.
Kerala SRTC had soon approached the Registry, and the judgement in the case, favourable to Kerala, was issued recently, sources added.
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