On Monday the division bench of Justice AS Chandurkar and Justice Rajesh Patil, while granting a temporary stay in an oral order on the Pune district court’s order, adjourned the matter to September 6. The detailed order was not available till the time of filing the story.
Before the court’s order, counsel Hiren Kamod, appearing for the US fast-food major, argued that there was an injunction order by the trial court in the company’s favour from 2012 and it should continue till the court hears the appeal.
The fast-food major Burger King Corporation (BKC) moved the Bombay High Court to challenge the lower court’s order that dismissed its application to restrain its local namesake from using the trademark ‘Burger King’.
Originally in this case, Burger King Corporation had approached the district court against the Pune-based couple Anahita and Shapoor Irani for allegedly infringing its trademark ‘Burger King’ by using the same name and sought the court’s intervention to restrain the local food store from allegedly infringing its trademark, passing off as well as damages.
Passing off in intellectual property rights (IPR) law means making a false representation that is likely to induce a person to believe that the goods or services are those of another.In its counterclaim, the Pune eatery owners sought Rs 20 lakh as compensatory damages for the mental pain and agony they had to go through.The US-based fast-food chain ‘Burger King’ opened its first store in India in November 2014. The Pune eatery informed the court that they have been operating since 1989 and using the name ‘Burger King’ since 1992.
In its appeal, the US fast-food major has argued that the appellant (Burger King) coined and adopted the trademark ‘Burger King’ in relation to restaurant services in the year 1954. The respondents (Anahita and Shapoor Irani) claim to have started using an identical trademark mark ‘Burger King’ in 1992. The Appellant is admittedly the prior user of the trademark.
The company in its appeal has also mentioned that it is the second-largest quick service restaurant (QSR) hamburger company in the world. It operates a worldwide chain of over 18,000 QSR in approximately 100 countries and US territories worldwide. The company has over 400 outlets in India including six in Pune.
