N.C. Mahamood Vs. Registrar of Trademarks & Ors., W.P.(C) No. 9286 of 2025, Neutral Citation: 2025:KER:46863, decided on 25th June 2025 by the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam, before Hon’ble Mr. Justice N. Nagaresh
The petitioner, N.C. Mahamood, proprietor of M/s. Evergreen Industries, filed a writ petition seeking expeditious disposal of his trademark application (No. 4107556), which had been pending before the Registrar of Trademarks, Chennai, since 5th March 2019. The application was opposed by Greenply Industries Ltd. through Opposition No. 1026808 dated 23rd January 2020. Despite lapse of over six years, no final decision had been taken, and no notice of hearing had been issued. The petitioner argued that such inaction violated his statutory rights and would lead to business hardship.
The respondents, including the Registrar of Trademarks, the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, and the Union of India, defended the delay on the ground of systemic backlog. They invoked the principle of “priority to first arrivals” and emphasized that the petitioner could have opted for an expedited process under Rule 34 of the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 by paying the prescribed fee. They contended that absent such request, applications were being processed in order of their seniority.
The dispute turned on whether a statutory authority could indefinitely delay the processing of a trademark application merely on the basis of general pendency and in the absence of any statutory mandate for payment of expedited fees after long delays.
The Court noted that although the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 provide for expedited processing under Rule 34, such provision cannot be interpreted as a license for indefinite delay in regular processing. The petitioner had filed the application in 2019 and an opposition was filed in 2020; yet, no hearing had been scheduled even after five years. The Court held that the respondents could not insist on payment of an additional fee for expedition after such extraordinary and unexplained delay in statutory processing.
Allowing the petition in part, the Court directed the Registrar of Trademarks to conduct a hearing in the petitioner’s trademark application expeditiously and to take a final decision within three months from the date of receipt of the judgment.
Written By: Advocate Ajay Amitabh Suman, IP Adjutor [Patent and Trademark Attorney], High Court of Delhi
