Drinks And Marks: Both Get Stronger By The Years!!

In the case of Radico Khaitan Ltd vs. M/s. Devans Modern Breweries Ltd., Radico Khaitan Ltd. (”Radico”) filed a suit seeking permanent injunction against Devans Modern Breweries Ltd. (“Devans”) at the Delhi High Court. It stated that Devans’s mark ‘ELECTRA’ was identical to and infringing upon Radico’s registered trademark ‘ELECTRA’ in class 33. Radico has also opposed the Devans’s application for trademark registration of the mark in class 32. It is noteworthy that Class 32 and Class 33 are classes with cognate/ related goods.

Devans contended that it was the honest and bonafide adopter of the marks ‘GODFATHER’ and ‘ELECTRA’ for its brand ‘GODFATHER ELECTRA’ in relation to Beer and other goods. It also contended to be the prior user as it was using the marks since 2014. It stated that though Radico had obtained registration for the mark in 2007, it actually started using the mark only in 2016, therefore Radico’s mark was liable to be removed from the records