The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation on Friday said there is no legal prohibition on the use of KSRTC by it in the wake of the Madras High Court dismissing the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation’s claim for exclusive use of the abbreviation.
In a statement, the Karnataka State RTC said they had applied for grant of Trade Mark Certificate for use of the KSRTC abbreviation. The Corporation was granted Trade Mark Certificates by the Trade Mark Registry of Government of India in 2013 with user date from November 1, 1973.
Copyright was also obtained from the Registrar of Copyrights, Government of India, for use of the KSRTC Logo and ‘Gandabherunda art’ (Logo of the State government), the Karnataka RTC said.
The Kerala State RTC had challenged this before the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) in Chennai, said the Karnataka RTC. It said its contention was that the Kerala RTC knew that the Karnataka RTC was using the mark for the past 42 years and had accepted it and hence was not entitled to apply for a declaration that the registration of the later trade mark is invalid.
The Kerala RTC too had obtained registration of the marks in 2019 claiming prior use, the Karnataka RTC said, adding that the matters which were pending before the IPAB were transferred to the High Court of Madras in Chennai after the abolition of IPAB by the Central government.
Applications dismissed
On December 12, the High Court of Madras dismissed the applications filed by the Kerala RTC and ruled in favour of the Karnataka RTC, the statement said.
As the Kerala RTC’s case was dismissed, the Karnataka RTC has no legal hurdle to use the abbreviation KSRTC in future also, the statement added.
