No monopoly for Infy on `Infosys' trademark

The Hindu Business Line reports :
No monopoly for Infy on `Infosys' trademark

"THE Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies Ltd may be a premier Indian company as far as IT services are concerned, but it cannot hold a monopoly on trademark `Infosys'. It was so decided by the Chennai Bench of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board.
On an application moved by the Kolkata-based Jupiter Infosys Ltd praying for cancellation of the registration of the trademark `Infosys' held by the Bangalore company, the Board directed the Registrar of Trade Marks, Chennai, to remove the registration of trademark `Infosys'.
The petitioner, Jupiter Infosys Ltd, sells computers, computer parts, accessories and other items of hardware.

The petitioner also relied on a circular by the Department of Company Affairs, which said that companies dealing in computers were permitted to use names such as `Infosys' as part of their corporate name.

The Board held that it was clear that the 1st respondent had not used the registered trademark numbers 475269, 475267 and 484837 for more than a period of five years and one month. The 1st respondent failed to make out its case that it had been in manufacturing or trading of goods for which it had taken the registration numbers. "Accordingly, we hold that the petitioner succeeds in his application. The applications are allowed and the Registrar shall remove these registrations from the register."

Now that is a big blow for Infosys, it had in fact brought out full page ads by its legal team challenging other firms not to use 'infosys' in their names. Wonder what they will do now....