The Supreme Courtroom on Friday permitted a Pune-based restaurant to proceed utilizing the ‘Burger King’ title till the Bombay Excessive Courtroom delivers its verdict on the matter, based on a Bar and Bench report.
Earlier, the Bombay Excessive Courtroom had reversed a Pune court docket’s ruling, which had dismissed a trademark infringement case filed by US fast-food big Burger King Company in opposition to the native eatery utilizing the identical title.
The battle arose after Burger King Company entered the Indian market in 2014, whereas the Pune-based eatery had already been utilizing the ‘Burger King’ title since 2008. The worldwide fast-food chain claimed that the native restaurant’s use of the title harmed its model fame and sought a everlasting injunction to cease it from working beneath the identical title.
In July 2024, a Pune court docket dominated in favour of the native restaurant, noting that it had been working because the early Nineteen Nineties, whereas Burger King Company registered its trademark in India solely in 2006. The court docket recognised the Pune eatery as a ‘prior and trustworthy consumer’ of the title and dismissed the US fast-food big’s claims.
The US fast-food chain challenged the Pune court docket’s resolution within the Bombay Excessive Courtroom, arguing that it had registered the ‘Burger King’ trademark in India as early as 1979, although it solely started operations in 2014. In the meantime, the Pune-based eatery countered that it had been utilizing the title since 1992, effectively earlier than the multinational’s entry into the Indian market. It additionally accused the US firm of ‘squatting’ on the trademark, highlighting that its preliminary registration was for paper merchandise quite than restaurant providers.
Written with the View : afaqs