GEEP FLASHLIGHT INDUSTRIES LIMITED Vs. REGISTRAR OF TRADE MARKS GOVERNMENT OF INDIA TRADE REGISTERY NEW DELHI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants filed an application before the Assistant Registrar of Trade Marks, Delhi, for registration of the trade mark consisting essentially of the word 'Janta' in respect of electric torches. The application was advertised in the Trade Marks Journal. Although no objections were filed by any one against the registration of the appellant's trade mark, the learned Assistant Registrar declined to register the appellant's trade mark mainly on the ground that it was not either distinctive or capable of distinguishing. The appellant seeks to challenge the said order of the learned Assistant Registrar.

(2.) The learned Assistant Registrar was of the view that the word 'Janta' was phonetically akin to the word 'Janta' which was a word of common use and which was neither distinctive nor capable of distinguishing the goods of the appellant. The learned counsel for the appellant contended that the word 'Janta' is quite distinct from the word 'Janta' and that in Hindi the word 'Janta' meant knowledge and that it was in that sense that the word was used in the appellant's proposed trade mark. There is hardly any substance in this contention. When an objection was raised by the office of the Registrar that the word 'Janta' had a direct reference to the character or quality of the goods and was not distinctive, the appellant in its letter dated July 25, 1961 admitted that the word 'Janta' has a dictionary meaning as "people" but proceeded to state that it did not have any direct reference to the character or quality of the goods on which it was used. Further, in some of the documents filed by the appellant, namely, Exs. A-9, A-10, A-22, A-36, A-38 and A-39, which represented invoices and orders for the appellant's goods, the word mentioned is Janta. 'Therefore, the appellant's application for registration of its trade mark must be considered on the basis that the word 'Janta' was equivalent to the word 'Janta',

(3.) For a trade mark to be qualified for registration, it should satisfy the conditions laid down in Section 9 of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). Under sub-section (1) of S. 9.