Nominative Fair Use Of A Trademark (June 2017)

INTRODUCTION

A trademark is an exclusive property of the owner and any use without the permission of the owner by a third party is an infringement of the rights of the trademark owner. The nominative fair use is an exception to the right of exclusive use of the trademark under the Trademark Act, 1999. The Courts around the world has acknowledged the nominative fair use defense in the infringement cases. The Indian Courts have also acknowledged the defense of Nominative fair use in cases of Infringement which is specifically allowed under the Trademark Act, 1999.

In today competitive business environment there are certain cases where a mechanical device, which is an accessory to a final product, is required to be introduced in the market in way that the user should know that the device is to be used for the final branded product. Further there are certain services which are provided for the specific products and to introduce the services in the market it is required