Madras High Court rules in favour of Karnataka transport utility on ‘KSRTC’ trademark use

BENGALURU: The Madras High Court has dismissed the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation’s claim over the ‘KSRTC’ acronym and ruled in favour of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation. This means that the Karnataka RTC now has no legal hurdle to use the name ‘KSRTC’.

In a statement, the Karnataka transport utility said that it had applied for grant of trademark certificate for use of the ‘KSRTC’ acronym which was granted by the Trademark Registry of the Union government in 2013 with effect from November 1, 1973. The copyright was also obtained from the Registrar of Copyrights, Govt. of India for use of the ‘KSRTC’ logo and the ‘Gandabherunda’ art.

However, later, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation challenged this before Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) at Chennai. The Karnataka SRTC contended that Kerala State Road Transport Corporation is aware of use of the mark by the Karnataka RTC since 42 years and hence, they are not entitled to apply for a declaration that the registration of the later trademark is invalid, since they have acquiesced its usage by the Karnataka RTC.

The Kerala RTC too obtained registration of the marks in 2019 claiming prior use. The matters which were pending before the IPAB were transferred to the Madras High Court at Chennai after abolition of IPAB by the central government, the statement noted.

The matter was posted before the Madras High Court on December 12, 2023 and the High Court has dismissed the applications filed by the Kerala RTC and the case was decided in favour of the Karnataka SRTC. In view of the dismissal of the case filed by Kerala RTC, the Karnataka RTC has no legal hurdle to use the name ‘KSRTC’ in future also, the statement noted.