S.Usha, J. - (1.) THE appeal arising out of the order dated 13th September, 2000 dismissing the opposition No. DEL -9198 and allowing application No. 537049 in class 16 to proceed to registration. The Respondents No. 3 to 5 herein had filed an application for registration of the trade mark CANON word per se in class 16 in respect of geometrical box, mathematical instruments, drawing sets and stationery goods under the provisions of Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 (hereinafter referred to at the Act) on 13th September, 1990. The application was filed claiming user since 9.1.1989. The said application was allowed to be advertised before acceptance in the Trade Marks Journal No. 1087 dated 16.9.1994 at page 813.
(2.) THE Appellants are the registered proprietors of wide range of goods and have also got various registration, the details are given below: border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0> CANON 164191 dt. 18.05.1954 9 Photographic apparatus and instruments No. 167 dt. 16.05.1958 CANON (special type) 408816 dt. 02.08.83 9 Scientific apparatus computer disc tapes etc. No. 924 dt. 01.12.87 CANON (special type) 401566 dt. 17.02.83 8 Hand tools and instruments, cutlery forks, etc. No. 963 dt. 16.07.89 CANON (special type) 401567 dt. 17.02.83 11 Installation for lighting heat and steam generating etc. No. 974 dt. 01.01.90 CANON (special type) 401570B dt. 17.02.83 21 Furniture mirrors etc. No. 943 dt. 16.09.88 CANON (special type) 401571B dt. 17.02.83 21 Small domestic utensils and containers No. 943 dt. 16.09.88 CANON (speicial type) 401573B dt. 17.02.83 23 Yarns and threads No. 943 dt. 16.09.88 CANON (special type) 401574B dt. 17.02.83 24 Tissue (piece goods) bed and table covers and textile articles etc. No. 963 dt. 16.09.89 CANON (special type) 401576B dt. 17.02.83 26 Lace and embroidery ribands etc. No. 943 dt. 16.09.88 CANON (special type) 401564B dt. 17.02.83 28 Games and playthings sporting articles No. 968 dt. 01.10.89 CANON 400136 dt. 17.01.83 16 All goods in class 16 including paper, paper articles, card board and card board articles, fountain pen, ball pens and parts thereof and fountain pen inks.   The Appellant stated that the word CANON is part of their company's corporate name and has become the household word and the public associate the word CANON with the Appellant company alone and none else. The Appellant have been using the mark exclusively and continuously for many decades all over the world. Their sales turn over is several lakhs of rupees. The Appellants have also spent huge amounts for promoting their sales by advertisements. The Respondents No. 3 to 5 have applied for registration of trade mark CANON under Application No. 537049 in class 16 claiming user since 1989 which is in contravention of the provisions of Sections 9,11(a), 11(e), 12(1), 18(1) and 19 of the Act.
(3.) THE Appellants herein had filed notice of opposition on 23.12.1994 on the following grounds: (1) that the Appellants are the proprietors of the trade mark CANON in respect of wide range of goods; (2) that the said trade mark CANON is registered in various classes; (3) that the trade mark CANON applied for registration is identical in all respects and will definitely create confusion among the pubic; (4) that the impugned mark is neither distinctive nor capable of being distinguished in the course of trade; (5) that the mark sought to be registered is deceptively similar to that of the Appellants; and (6) that the registration if granted will be in contravention to the provisions of Sections 11(a), 11(e), 12(1) and 18(1) of the Act.;