Justice Jayant Nath in his interim order said that prima facie Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) has made out a case that the Indian company was infringing upon its trademark with a “dishonest intention” to take advantage of the reputation and goodwill of the German company.
The court also rejected the stand of the Indian company, Om Balajee Automobile (India) Private Limited, that it has been manufacturing e-rickshaws under the ‘DMW’ trademark since 2013 and BMW approached the high court only in 2017 after a delay of four years.
The court said: “Even if there was delay on the part of the plaintiff (BMW) in filing of the present suit as has been claimed by the defendant (Om Balajee), the same delay would not be sufficient to deter grant of injunction in favour of plaintiff”.
It noted in its order that the German company has been manufacturing motorcycles under the BMW mark since 1923 and cars since 1928.
It said the company has assembly plants in 14 countries, global sales network in more than 140 nations, revenue of 94.163 million euro in 2016 and in these circumstances, use of mark ‘DMW’ by the Indian company “prima facie appears to be a dishonest act with an intention of trying to take advantage of the reputation and goodwill” of BMW.
“It is likely to mislead an average man of ordinary intelligence,” the court said.
It further noted that the Indian company’s brand was “visually and phonetically similar” to the mark of BMW which is a well known trademark and therefore, its use by Om Balajee on its products “constitutes infringement” under the Trademarks Act.
