The applicant alleges that the withdrawal of the “CHUTIYARAM” trademark registration was a result of media pressure and systemic bias. They claim that the trademark registry’s decision was influenced by a media trial rather than legal grounds. Additionally, the applicant argues that there is an inherent prejudice against Hindi and other vernacular languages in the registration process. The case has raised concerns about fairness in trademark approvals and linguistic discrimination.
The Trade Marks Registry has withdrawn its approval for registering the trademark ‘CHUTIYARAM’ under Class 30 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. The decision came on Tuesday, just a day after the mark was published in the Trademark Journal and two weeks after it was initially accepted. In an official order published on Tuesday, the Trade Marks Registry admitted that the acceptance of the application was a mistake and that the mark violated legal provisions under Sections 9 and 11 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999.
The Trade Marks Registry accepted the ‘CHUTIYARAM’ trademark for a namkeen and biscuits brand. The examiner said that the name is made of two random words, ‘Chuti’ and ‘Ram’, and is unique. Since there were no strong objections, the trademark was approved. This shows that a brand name must be different and special to get registered.