Godrej moves SC over trademark row

NEW DELHI: Godrej Sara Lee has moved the Supreme Court seeking to restrain a Delhi-based company Knight Queen Industries from using the trademark 'Knight Queen,' which allegedly is deceptively similar to its own trademark 'Good Knight.'

A bench headed by Justice S H Kapadia has sought response from Knight Queen Industries as to why it should not be restrained from using the trademark.

Godrej has challenged the Bombay High Court order dismissing its petition for lack of any similarity between the trademarks in terms of writing style and label.

Alleging that "it is a clear case of similarity between the two trademarks," Godrej said the Delhi firm had copied the mark 'Knight Queen' in a similar manner with same spelling, writing style and fonts as that of "Good Knight."

"The present case is one of 'triple identity' where the trademarks were deceptively similar, the goods were identical and the customers were also the same," Godrej said, adding any part of the trademark if copied would amount to violation and would lead to confusion or deception in the minds of the consumers as well as in the market.

According to the petitioner, the high court had failed to appreciate the fact it was the original and prior adopter of the trademark 'Good Knight' in respect of mosquito mats, liquid and machine since 1984 and "the use of the trademark by respondent was dishonest.

The insecticide giant also apprehended that if the deceptive trademark was allowed to continue it would damage its goodwill and reputation as its products were advertised extensively all over the country.