On 19 August 2019, the Bombay High Court in a noteworthy
decision held that the mark iTerm used by the plaintiff, Aegon Life
Insurance Company was not inherently distinctive in relation to the
insurance policies it sold over the internet.
The defendant contended that the expression iTerm was not
distinctive to the plaintiff's goods and services, as it was
highly descriptive of the product and services that the plaintiff
provides. The expression is derived from "i" for internet
or insurance and "Term" for the nature of the insurance
policy. Aegon filed suit against Aviva Life Insurance Company India
for passing off by the use of the term iTerm in relation to its
online insurance policies. The plaintiff submitted that it had
invented and adopted a unique, distinctive and innovative
trademark, "iTerm" (and its variants subsequently) in
2009, and that the mark iTerm had acquired a secondary significance
amongst the relevant section of the trade in online
