GOPAL KISHAN Vs. UOI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition has been preferred under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to assail order dated 16.12.2010 of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (hereinafter referred to as the IPAB?) passed in TRA/22/2005/TM/DEL, whereby the rectification application filed by the petitioner, for removal of the trade marks of respondent no. 2 registered under the provisions of the Trade & Merchandise Act, 1958 (hereinafter referred to as the Act?), has been dismissed.

(2.) The above rectification application was initially filed before this Court in C.O. 7/2003, and pursuant to Section 100 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, the same was transferred to the IPAB.

(3.) The petitioner sought removal of the trade marks registered under Nos. 310536, 355435, 355436 and 487215, all in class 9 under the Act. All these marks contained the word mark "STANDARD". The challenge to these registrations was premised on the submission that the word "STANDARD" is a word of common English language; is highly laudatory, and; is incapable of ever acquiring distinctiveness even after the long use thereof. It was also argued that the word "STANDARD" cannot acquire secondary meaning in favour of anyone including the respondent No. 1, even after long continuous use thereof as the same cannot loose its primary meaning.