The Delhi High Court recently declined to entertain a petition filed by German carmaker Volkswagen challenging the dismissal of its opposition to a trademark application filed by rival Maruti Suzuki India Limited in Volkswagen AG v. The Registrar of Trade Marks and Anr, as reported by Bar and Bench.
Maruti Suzuki has applied to the Registrar of Trade Marks to register the trade mark ‘TRANSFORMOTION’. According to the Bar Association, the request was accepted and subsequently published.
Volkswagen then filed an opposition to the registration, claiming that the mark was deceptively similar to its already registered trademark “4MOTION”. After the registrar rejected Volkswagen’s objection, the company appealed to the High Court, the report said.
“This Court also finds that the petitioner herein is Volkswagen AG and the Respondent No. 2 herein is Maruti Suzuki India Limited; both companies have independent, substantial goodwill in the Indian market and since the class of products sold by the parties are automobiles which are purchased by consumers after due consideration, this Court is persuaded to find that there is no material on record to conclude that consumers would be confused or confused with the goods no. the belief that the same actually belongs to the petitioner,” the court stated, as stated by the Bar.
The court accepted Maruti Suzuki India Limited’s contention that “TRANSFORMOTION” is a play on the word “transformation” in the dictionary. He also noted that Maruti started using the brand in 2016 while Volkswagen started using its brand in 2017, meaning consumers were not familiar with the Volkswagen brand at that time, the Bar and Bench said.
The court found that Volkswagen’s trademark “4MOTION” refers to the sophisticated all-wheel drive system used in the Tiguan, while Maruti Suzuki’s “TRANSFORMOTION” refers to the transition of speedometers in its vehicles from analog to digital systems, the report said.
“On a comparison of the petitioner’s trade mark ‘4MOTION’ with the entire trade mark ‘TRANSFORMOTION’ of respondent no. 2, this court is satisfied that visually there is no likely possibility of confusion between the two rival trade marks as they are different from each other,” it ruled.
The Court is satisfied that, from a visual perspective, there is no likely likelihood of confusion between the two competing trademarks.
TRANSFORMOTION is a play on the word “transformation” in the dictionary.
The court accepted Maruti Suzuki’s argument that “TRANSFORMATION” is a play on the word “transformation” in the dictionary. He noted that Maruti started using the brand in 2016, while Volkswagen started using “4MOTION” in 2017, meaning consumers were unfamiliar with the Volkswagen brand at the time.
(With inputs from Bar and Bench)
