Holy Cow Foundation, an NGO promoting cow welfare, developed GAUNYLE cow urine-based floor cleaner in 2013 and registered the trademark in Class 05 in 2015 claiming user since 2013.
Discovering Patanjali Gramodyog Nyas using similar PATANJALI GONYLE FLOOR CLEANER registered in 2016 claiming user from 2015.
Prompting a 2017 cease and desist notice met with reply asserting use since 2011 and phonetic differences, leading to rectification petition under Section 57 of Trade Marks Act 1999 seeking cancellation on grounds of deceptive similarity under Sections 9(2)(a) and 11(1)(a) and prior use.
The court reasoned that petitioner failed to prove prior use due to fabricated invoices with chronological inconsistencies while respondents' 2008 user claim stood unrefuted, marks not confusingly similar holistically given prominent well-known PATANJALI house mark distinguishing them despite phonetic resemblance and slightly differing goods descriptions reducing confusion risk, with no mala fide shown and prior registration favoring respondents. The petition was dismissed upholding the registration.
Legal Point:
Prior adoption and user must be substantiated with consistent, reliable documentary evidence; inconsistencies render evidence inadmissible and undermine the claim: Para 18.
Presence of a well-known house mark serves as a distinguishing factor reducing likelihood of confusion even in phonetically similar marks: Cadila Health Care Ltd. v. Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd., (2001) 5 SCC 73, Para 24; Para 22.
Trade mark similarity assessed holistically considering visual, phonetic, conceptual aspects and overall impression, not isolated elements: Cadila Health Care Ltd. v. Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd., (2001) 5 SCC 73, Para 25.
Rectification under Section 57 read with Sections 9(2)(a) and 11(1)(a) requires proof of deceptive similarity causing public confusion, absent which registration subsists: Para 26, Para 29.
Case Detail:Holy Cow Foundation Vs Patanjali Gramodyog Nyas:09.01.2026:, Case Number: C.O. (COMM.IPD-TM) 85/2021:2026:DHC:146: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Tejas Karia.
[Readers are advised not to treat this as substitute for legal advise as it may contain errors in perception, interpretation, and presentation]
[Written By: Advocate Ajay Amitabh Suman, IP Adjutor [Patent and Trademark Attorney], High Court of Delhi]
