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Judgment
Manmohan Singh, J
The application for removal of trademark from the register or rectification of the register has been filed bearing Registration No. 2263031 for the
trademark BLOOMBERG (Label) in Class 43 registered in the name of BLOOMBERG DEVELOPERS PRIVATE LIMITED.
The same was filed by BLOOMBERG FINANCE L.P., of 731 Lexington Avenue, New York NY 10022, United States of America, to remove the
entry in the Register in respect of the trademark BLOOMBERG (Label) under Registration No. 2263031 in Class 43 registered in the name of
BLOOMBERG DEVELOPERS PRIVATE LIMITED At Evoma, No. 14 Bhattrahali, Old Madras Road, K R. Puram, Bangalore-560049, ""By a total
expunction of the said trademark from the Register"",
The impugned registered trademark of the Registered Proprietor is the mark BLOOMBERG (Label) in Class 43 under Registration No. 2263031
dated 9 January 2012 in respect of ""services for providing food and drink; temporary accommodation. "" A copy of the journal advertisement published
in Trademark Journal No. 1525 dated 27th February 2012, at page no. 2050, is annexed hereto and marked ""X"" The office of the 2nd Respondent.
The Applicant for Rectification herein, is a multinational financial news corporation and a trusted leader in global business and financial information,
founded in 1981 by Mr. Michael R. Bloomberg, the present mayor of New York City, USA. The Applicant's predecessor adopted and first used the
expression ""BLOOMBERG"" in 1987 as its trademark, trade name, and corporate identity. The Applicant is a subsidiary of Bloomberg L.P., the parent
company of a number of other ""Bloomberg""-named companies. Bloomberg L.P. currently uses the ""Bloomberg"" trade name under license from
Applicant, (Hereinafter for convenience the expressions, ""we 'our company the Applicant' etc. collectively refer to Bloomberg Finance L.P. as well as
Bloomberg L.P., and all other associates, subsidiaries, licensees, agents etc.) The Applicant provides influential decision makers worldwide with data,
analytics, news, and insight to give them a critical edge. The BLOOMBERG PROFESSIONAL service is now the leading choice of more than
3,10,000 business and financial professionals globally. The Applicant's capability in delivering data, news and analytics quickly and accurately through
innovative technology has resulted in several award-winning products and solutions. The Applicant has over 15,000 employees in 192 locations,
including 2,300 reporters in 140 news bureaus worldwide. The Applicant's products and services reach millions of people worldwide through a variety
of international, multi-lingual media outlets, including BLOOMBERG TELEVISION and BLOOMBERG RADIO programming, BLOOMBERG
NEWS and the highly popular website at www.bloomberg.com. In India, ""Bloomberg UTV"" was launched in 2008 as a 24-hour English language
business and financial broadcast news outlet in India, by UTV Software Communications in strategic partnership with Bloomberg Television.
(Hereinafter; for the sake of convenience, all expressions including ""The Applicant"", ""Our company"", ""Us"", ""We"", ""Our"" and all cognate expressions
thereto, shall commonly refer to BLOOMBERG FINANCE L.P., the Applicant for Rectification herein, as well as its predecessors, parent/holding
company, its subsidiaries, associate companies, licensees,
In order to distinguish the Applicant's products and services from those of others, it adopted the expression BLOOMBERG, as its trademark/trade
name/corporate identity at least as early as 31 August, 1987. Over the years, the Applicant has adopted numerous BLOON'BERG per se or
BLOOMBERG formative marks with respect to its various products and services. [For the sake of convenience, the above marks are referred to as
our ""BLOOMBERG trademarks "" or ""the Applicant's marks ""1. The Applicant's BLOOMBERG trademarks are being used in over 100 countries
worldwide. In India, the Applicant is using the BLOOMBERG trademark at least since 1996, when its wholly owned Indian subsidiary Bloomberg
Data Services (India) Private Ltd. was established.
In order to accord statutory protection to its marks, the Applicant has obtained and/or applied for registration of its mark BLOOMBERG in various
countries/jurisdictions, in addition to India and our home country, the United States, including-African Union (O.A.P.I.), Argentina, Aruba, Australia,
Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benelux, Bermuda, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darrussalam, Bulgaria, Canada,
Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, European Union, Fiji,
Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey,
Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macao, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands
Antilles, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent
and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tangier
Zone, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, etc. The
Applicant obtained the first registration for the BLOOMBERG trademark in the USA in 1990.
In India, the Applicant is the proprietor of numerous BLOOMBERG/BLOOMBERG formative marks that are either registered or pending in
various classes, the earliest of which is registered since 1994. Some of the Applicant's BLOOMBERG/BLOOMBERG formative registered
trademarks in India are tabled below:
It is stated on behalf of applicant that the Registered Proprietor has obtained registration of the impugned mark BLOOMBERG by making false
claims of proprietorship and misleading statements. The impugned mark is identical to the Applicant's prior adopted, registered and well-known
trademark BLOOMBERG, and deceptively similar to the Applicant's other BLOOMBERG formative trademarks. The Registered Proprietor is
wrongly and unlawfully claiming proprietorship of the mark which actually belongs to the Applicant. There cannot be any dispute that the impugned
registered trademark is already causing and will continue to cause deception among the public, including the likelihood of blind association with the
Applicant's products and services bearing its prior registered and well known trademark BLOOMBERG, unless the subject trademark is expunged
from the trademark register forthwith. The impugned registered trademark being identical to the Applicant's stated well-known marks, stands in utter
violation of Sections 11(2) and 11(3) of the Act.
The applicant has also filed the suit infringement before the High Court. The application has got the decree for permanent injunction against the
respondent no. 1 from using the mark Bloomberg in any manner. We have been informed by the earlier counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent
no. 1 that the said mark/name has been deleted from the Register of Trademarks.
In the light of the above, the prayer made in the petition is allowed. The Trademark No. 2263031 is removed from the Register.
Copy of the order be sent to respondent no. 2 for removing the entry from the Register.
No costs.