Trademark: Bajaj vs Teja (Andaz Apna Apna)

We are sure that at some or the other point in your life you might have come across a product that had a name/logo which resembles your favorite brand’s name or logo. For example, Nike vs Naike vs Nikee or Bisleri vs Bislery or Besleri etc. The name of the product, the packaging of the product, has such an uncanny resemblance that unless you are too careful, you might end up buying the counterfeit product.

What exactly having a Brand (Trademark) means?

Whenever a person comes up with a product, he names it something so as to distinguish itself from other products in the product. For example, if Mr. Bajaj starts manufacturing bread, and he does not put a brand name there then he will not be able to advertise it distinctively and the buyers will not be able to differentiate/ recognise that a particular bread is a product of Mr. Bajaj. Having a brand name increases the product recall value by ensuring brand loyalty etc.

Let us learn how this Brand Name of Yours can be Misutilized by people seeking shortcuts:

Now, say Mr. Bajaj sells his products under the name of Bajaj Breads and he has become a market leader in the Bread segment. In spite of such humongous growth, Mr. Bajaj didn’t bother to get a trademark for his product and he was made to pay for this dearly. Here we explain how:

An opportunist businessman named Teja after extensive market research realised that Bajaj Breads were sold at a higher price as compared to breads of other companies. Further, these breads were very popular and enjoyed a good market share. Eyeing exponential growth like Bajaj Breads, Teja also started manufacturing Breads in the name of Teja Breads. But his dreams shattered when he could not attract a lot of buyers. (Buyers be like “Ye Teja Teja Kya Hai Ye Teja Teja" )

So, 'Teja ne ek Pilan banaya.' He thought why not put a tag of Bajaj Breads on his bread instead of Teja Breads. This idea just turned things around for Teja as now he enjoyed the loyalty of all the buyers of Bajaj Breads. His ultimate dream of becoming Bread ka Badshah aur Omelette ka Raja was becoming a reality.

Miffed with declining sales of his product, Mr. Bajaj came to know about Teja’s Master Plan. And started looking for legal aid. He first came across Section 27 of The Trademarks Act, 1999 which says,

“No person shall be entitled to institute any proceeding to prevent or to recover damages for, the infringement of an unregistered trademark. Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to affect rights of action against any person for passing off goods or services as the goods of another person or as services provided by another person, or the remedies in respect thereof.”

So, having a registered trademark is essential in order to get relief from courts and to stop a person from using your hard-earned trademark for which you have put in money, sweat, and blood.

How the law saves your Trademark and helps you maintain exclusivity?

A person can get his wordmark registered under The Trade Marks Act, 1999. As per Section 28 of the Act, after registration, a person gets the exclusive right to the use of the trademark in relation to the goods or services in respect of which the trademark is registered and to obtain relief in respect of infringement of the trademark.

So, if you find any other person using your registered trademark you will be able to stop that person and also claim compensation.

Piece of Advice

The awareness about trademark laws has increased in recent times. So, if you are selling a product, it is in your interest to get a trademark for the product to stop others from copying it. Further, while deciding the name for your products and services check if someone else has already taken a trademark for that.