Case: Gola Sports Limited, Northamptonshrire, England Vs Sports Equipment (Pvt.) Ltd., New Delhi. Trademark Tribunal
| Counsel | For Appellant: Ms. M. Lahiri, Advocate and For Respondents: Mr. S. K. Dutt, Advocate |
| Judges | M. R. Bhalerao, DRTM |
| Issue | Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 - Sections 9, 11(a), 18(1), 18(4) |
| Citation | 1981 (1) PTC 204 |
| Judgement Date | September 03, 1981 |
| Court | Trademark Tribunal |
Judgment:
M. R. Bhalerao, DRTM
On 12th September, 1974, Sports Equipment (Pvt.) Limited, D-32, South Extension II, New Delhi-110049 (hereinafter referred to as "the Applicants") made an application, being No 299222B, to register a trade mark label containing the word 'GOLA' in Class 25, in respect of the specification of goods which on subsequent amendment reads as "Boots, shoes and slippers for sale in India and also for export". In due course, the application was advertised in the Trade Marks Journal No. 647 dated 16th May, 1976 at page 187.
On 11th August, 1976, Gola Sports Limited, Bozeat, Nr. Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, NN9 7JS, England (hereinafter referred to as "the Opponents") lodged a Notice of Opposition, under Section 21 (1), to the registration of the aforesaid trade mark on the following grounds: -
That the Opponents are the proprietors of internationally well known trade mark 'GOLA' in respect of inter alia 'Sports boots and shoes and other footwear' and that the mark sought to be registered is identical or deceptively similar to the Opponents' mark and that the goods for which registration is sought are either the same or of the description and that their trade channels are the same.
That the use of the mark 'GOLA' by the Applicants will lead to confusion and deception in that the trade and the purchase will assume a connection in the course of trade between the Opponents' goods and the Applicant's goods.
That the confusion which will result from the use of the Applicant's mark will lead to passing off the Applicants' goods as the Opponents' goods.
That the Applicants are not the proprietors of the mark.
The mark applied for is not adopted to distinguish the Applicants' goods.
That the registration will be contrary to the provisions of Sections 9, 11 (1), 11(e) and 18 (1) of the Act.
That the mark applied for be refused in exercise of the Registrar's discretion.
In their Counter-statement filed on 23rd November, 1976, the Applicants have stated that they had a business relationship with one M/s. Botterill & Sons Ltd. of U. K. and that adoption of the mark sought to be registered and the filling of the application therefor was made with express consent of M/s. Botterill and Sons Ltd. of U. K. Rest of the Counterstatement is one of denial of what is contained in the Notice of Opposition.
The evidence in support of opposition consists of two affidavits of S/Shri John Arthur Botterill and Graham John Spancer Clarke. The evidence in support of application consists of two affidavits of Smt. Sunita Mehta and Shri Subhash Mehta. The evidence in reply consists of an affidavit of Stephen Edward Eley. By order dated 12th May, 1981, an affidavit of Shri Jagdish Singh Gopal, filed by the Opponents was taken on record as 'further evidence' under Rule 56. The Applicants filed their evidence in rebuttal in the form of the affidavit-dated 21st July. 1980 by Subhash Mehta. Eventually, the matter came up before me for a hearing on 6th August, 1981. Miss M. Lahiri, Advocate appeared for the Opponents. Shri S. K. Dutt, Advocate appeared for the Applicants.
At the hearing, the learned counsel for the Opponents confined her arguments to the Opponents' objections based on Sections 9, 11 (a) and 18 of the Act.
The mark applied for registration consists of the word 'Gola'. The word 'Gola' does not have any dictionary meaning in English language. In Bhargava's Standard Illustrated Dictionary of the Hindi Language, 1946 edn., page 302, the meaning of the word 'Gola' in Hindi is stated as, a ball, a cannon ball, copra, wild pigeon, or a large beam of word, a globe, a ball of bomb shell, a market of grocers". Originally, the mark was applied for registration in part A of the Register. Subsequently the application was converted into one for registration in part B of the Register. According to the aforesaid meanings, the word 'Gola' in respect of 'boots, shoes and slippers' possesses sufficient inherent capacity to distinguish the Applicants' goods from those of other traders. Accordingly, the mark applied for is registrable under Section 9 of the Act.
According to Section 11 (a), a mark the...
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