The Delhi High Court has sought a response from the Registrar of Trademarks on a plea filed by Hero MotoCorp challenging the registration of the ‘MotorHunk’ trademark. The mark has been registered in the name of Nitin Khanna, founder of the automobile accessories platform MotorHunk.
The matter came up before Justice Jyoti Singh, who issued notice to Nitin Khanna and the Registrar of Trademarks. The court has listed the matter for the next hearing on May 11, 2026.
Hero MotoCorp argued that the ‘MotorHunk’ mark is deceptively similar to its registered trademark ‘Hunk’, which they used for its motorcycle model. The company submitted that the similarity between the two marks could lead to confusion among consumers and within the trade regarding the origin of the goods. It was further contended that ‘motor’ is a generic word and descriptive term commonly used in the automobile sector and cannot sufficiently distinguish the two marks.
However, the counsel for Nitin Khanna argued that trademarks must be assessed in their entirety rather than by isolating individual components. The counsel stated that the MotorHunk trademark is an artistic device mark, whereas Hero MotoCorp’s ‘Hunk’ mark is a word mark, making them structurally different.
They also stated that Hero MotoCorp discontinued the motorcycle model sold under the name ‘Hunk’ in 2017, and therefore, no longer holds active goodwill or trade reputation associated with that mark.
Earlier, the Trademarks Registry concluded that the competing marks differed visually and phonetically. It observed that there was no material to indicate that Khanna had copied or dishonestly adopted the mark, and held that the two trademarks were sufficiently distinct to avoid confusion among the public or in trade.
