The Delhi High Court has rejected an appeal filed by Parle Products challenging the Registrar of Trademarks’ order that registered the ‘20-20’ trademark in favour of Avon Agro Industries for coffee, tea, biscuits and related products.
The court held that Parle Products’ earlier manufacture of goods under the ‘20-20’ mark and its prior registration does not prevent Avon Agro Industries from asserting its rights or securing registration of the mark in its favour.
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela noted that merely because it had taken 17 years for Avon Agro to establish its claim for registration of the mark ‘20-20’, and in the meantime Parle Products had begun manufacturing and using the trademark, this would not automatically give Parle any special benefit or treatment. The judge explained that, applying the provisions of Section 18 of the Trade Marks Act, such use would not prevent Avon Agro from securing registration of its mark.
He further clarified that Section 18 does not contemplate two separate dates of registration: one for applicants who waited for registration and another for those who commenced manufacturing while the application remained under consideration.
During the proceedings, Senior Counsel J Sai Deepak, appearing for Parle Products, argued that the Registrar of Trademarks had overlooked the company’s continuous use of the ‘20-20’ mark from 2008-09 onwards, and contended that Avon Agro’s rights had been extinguished due to prolonged non-use amounting to abandonment.
However, Counsel Ajay Sahni, representing Avon Agro Industries, refuted the claim and submitted that Parle’s commencement of manufacturing and sale of goods under the mark ‘20-20’, even before its own registration was granted, could not be a ground to deny Avon Agro registration of the mark in its own name.
