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Citation – AIR 1994 Delhi 239
Facts: The plaintiff, Daimler Benz, having a three-pointed star in a ring as its trademark and a manufacturer of one of the finest engineered cars in the world filed a lawsuit asking for a permanent injunction against the defendants for the infringement of their Trademark. The defendant was using the trademark ‘Benz’ and ‘three-pointed human being in a ring’ as a mark for his business of undergarments.
Issue: Should injunction be granted against the use of the trademark of Benz by Hybo for its undergarment business? Would a delay in filing of the suit take away the right of the plaintiff?
Holding: The defendant was restrained by an injunction from using the name of Benz and the three pointed human in a ring to carry on its business of undergarments.
Rationale: The court acknowledged that the mark and the word Benz and the three pointed star in a ring have for long been associated with luxury car maker, Mercedes Benz. Benz is no Indian’s surname and the defendants accepted that they did not name the brand after the city ‘Mercedes’. Any person who has even a very limited knowledge of the world of cars would be easily able to associate the name of Benz with the luxury car manufacturer, Mercedes Benz.
The court rejected the argument about delay in filing for injunction distinguishing the present case from the previous cases where injunction was not granted due to delay in filing for an injunction. However, the court rejected this old principle, saying that it cannot be applied to a well-known and reputed brand like Mercedes Benz.
The principle of ‘honest concurrent user’, as laid down in Amritdhara Pharmacy v Satya Deo Gupta is also inapplicable to a well known brand as Benz. “The trademarks law is not intended to protect a person who deliberately sets out to take the benefit of somebody else’s reputation with reference to goods, especially so when the reputation extends worldwide. By no stretch of imagination can it be said that use for any length of time of the name ‘Benz’ should not be objected to.”
None should be allowed to use a world-famed name to goods which have no connection with the type of goods which have generated the worldwide reputation and dilute the reputation of a very high priced and extremely well-engineered car brand by associating it with underwears.
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