Court Compares Competing Trademarks For Consumer Confusion

Trademark protection has taken a central place in a business activity now a days. The poignant reason to this development is that a mark is an identifying tool for the trade origin of the products. No business would want a competing business activity to reap from the reputation and goodwill it has built up all through the years. This is the case in the instant civil appeal arising out of Special Leave Petition to Supreme Court of India in Heinz Italia & Anr. v. Dabur India Ltd. 2007 (35) PTC 1 (SC) where ‘Glucon-D’ and ‘Glucose-D’ were tested on the benchmark of whether a particular mark has generated enough acceptability in a particular product category in the market, to confuse a buyer.

The plaintiffs/appellants M/s Heinz Italia are the proprietors of the trademark ‘Glucon-D’ registered under the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958. The mark was registered by Glaxo Laboratories in 1975 and subsequently assigned to M/s Heinz Italia along with the goodwill and the artistic work