A Belagavi commercial court refused to grant an injunction to a Karnataka firm in its trademark dispute against US AI company Anthropic over the “ANTHROPIC” mark, holding that media reports and website announcements were insufficient grounds to prove passing off or infringement.
A commercial court in Belagavi recently denied a request for an injunction from a Karnataka-based firm in a trademark dispute against the American artificial intelligence company, Anthropic, concerning the mark “ANTHROPIC”.
The lawsuit was initiated by Anthropic Softwares Private Limited, located in Belagavi, alleging passing off and trademark infringement. The Indian firm based its case on a newspaper article indicating that the American company was set to open its first office in India and a website announcement stating its operations would commence in Bengaluru in early 2026.
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The Indian firm sought a temporary injunction to prevent the US company from passing itself off as associated with it by using the name “Anthropic” or any other similar mark.
Principal District and Sessions Judge Manjunath Nayak first granted an application under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, allowing the suit to proceed without the required pre-institution mediation, given the urgent interim relief sought.
However, the court declined to issue an ex parte injunction. After reviewing the plaint, affidavit, and documents, the court noted that besides the two publications, there was insufficient evidence to indicate that the defendant had initiated operations in India using the plaintiff’s registered mark. Moreover, the court highlighted that the defendant’s address was listed as San Francisco, suggesting that an Indian establishment had not yet been established.
The court stated,
“In order to grant an ex parte order of temporary injunction, by dispensing with notice to the defendant, there should be an imminent threat of infringement or violation. In this case, at this stage, I have not found any such imminent threat in order to grant an ex parte order of temporary injunction, without issuing notice to the defendant and without hearing the defendant.”
Consequently, the court issued notice on the interim application and summons to the US company, with the case scheduled for hearing on February 16.
This civil suit is taking place alongside ongoing proceedings before the Trade Marks Registry. Anthropic Softwares Private Limited has lodged an objection for the rectification or cancellation of the “ANTHROPIC” mark in Classes 42 and 9, which is registered under Anthropic PBC in San Francisco.
Before the Registry, the Indian company accused the US firm of bad faith adoption, arguing that the registration of the American firm’s mark would lead to confusion among consumers in the IT services sector and constitute infringement and passing off. They also invoked provisions related to deceptive similarity and likelihood of confusion.
Case Title: Anthropic Softwares v. Anthropic PBC.
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