Anand and Anand wins Trademark case for Toyota in India

In one of the most heated Intellectual Property trials in India, the Delhi High Court passed a landmark verdict related to the trademark of Toyota Prius in favour of the Japanese carmarker.

Toyota was objecting the use of its trademark 'Prius' as it was its first hybrid car in the world. The defendants established a proprietary firm and a company by the name of Prius Auto Industries and Prius Auto Accessories Private Limited and were also selling manufactured spare parts under the trademarks of Toyota, Innova and Qualis.

Interestingly, the defendants had secured registrations of the name Prius in India, while Toyota did not have such a registration to its name in the country. However, convinced that the Defendants had taken undue advantage of the reputation of its vehicles in order to expand their own business in India, Toyota filed the suit in 2009 at the Delhi High Court through the law firm Anand and Anand, with Pravin Anand at the helm of affairs.

After nearly seven years of digging deep into the principles of trademark law, Honorable Justice Manmohan Singh passed the judgment in favour of Toyota, ending its long wait for victory.

The Defendants statement of account showed their business grew under the name of Prius and sales were up to Rs. 20 crores. The court ruled that the defendants should pay Toyota Rs. 10 lakh as damages for taking advantage of the trademark and for violating rights.