HC junks order refusing Yamaha trademark akin to Honda Motor’s

In a relief to Japanese automobile company Yamaha, the Bombay High Court has set aside an order refusing it a trademark similar to one already registered by Honda Motor Company and directed the Registrar, Trade Marks, to adjudicate the issue afresh.

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A Bench of Justice Manish Pitale on June 13 said while a bare perusal of the two trademarks — Yamaha’s WR and Honda’s WR-V — may cause confusion in the minds of the public, the authority ought to have considered the case as exceptional circumstances and issued an advertisement seeking objections from the public before rejecting Yamaha’s application.

The court stated the authority, in its “cryptic” order, completely ignored the claim of Yamaha’s international reputation while refusing the application and the fact that the company has been using the WR trademark internationally since 1990.

Justice Pitale said the authority could have passed a “detailed order”. Yamaha Hatsudoki Kabushiki Kaisha had moved the high court, challenging a May 2021 order by the Registrar/Examiner of Trade Marks, refusing the company’s application for registration of trademark ‘WR’.

The authority had said there was a likelihood of confusion in the mind of the public between the trademark of Yamaha, for which registration was sought, and a similar trademark already on the register.