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Burger King Loses Trademark Infringement Suit Against Pune-based Eatery

BW Online Bureau Aug 19, 2024

The district judge Sunil Vedpathak ruled in favour of Anahita and Shapoor Irani, the owners of the Pune-based eatery by noting that they had been using the ‘Burger King’ name since 1991-92, long before the US giant began its operation in India (2014)

Burger King, a United States global fast-food corporation, has lost a 13-year legal case of trademark infringement against a Pune-based namesake eatery. The district court dismissed the suit filed by the US giant which sought to refrain the Pune-based eatery from using the ‘Burger King’ name.

The district judge Sunil Vedpathak ruled in favour of Anahita and Shapoor Irani, the owners of the eatery. While dismissing the 2011 lawsuit filed by the US corporation, the judge noted that the eatery based in Pune had been using the ‘Burger King' name since 1991-92, long before the US giant began its operation in India (2014).

Burger King not only sought a permanent injunction from the court against trademark infringement but also sought Rs 20 lakh monetary damages.

The court denied the claims for a permanent injunction by ruling that the Burger King Corporation could not demonstrate that the local eatery was guilty of trademark infringement and there was no proof of any actual damage to the business of the company.

“With respect to relief of perpetual injunction is concerned, admittedly the plaintiff has started to provide services through restaurant under its trademark Burger King in India, particularly in the year 2014, whereas, since 1991-92, defendants are using the trademark Burger King to provide restaurant services. Even the plaintiff has not placed on record the registration certificate about the registration of its trademark in India under class 42 prior to 1991-92,” Bar and Bench cited the court’s observation.

The court turned down the Rs 20 lakh compensation sought by the Pune joint for the distress and harassment caused by the case. The court noted that there was no supporting evidence to prove the actual damages caused to the defendants.

The US giant, which entered the Indian market in 2014, learnt that another restaurant had been running with the same name since 2008. The corporation then decided to take the legal route to refrain the Pune joint from using the name, which the district court dismissed.