The Denmark-based toy brand, Lego, won a trademark battle against a Hyderabad-based confectionery company, Leo Foods, for using a near-identical mark on candies that the latter manufactured and supplied.
Justice PB Balaji of the Madras high court directed the deputy registrar of trademarks to remove the impugned marks – Lego Cuteheart and Lego Coffybond – for infringement. “The target consumers of both products are children, and their recapitulation to their favourite goods is mainly visual. Since Leo Foods not only copied the word mark Lego but also the dominant features, it is highly likely that children would easily fall prey,” Justice Balaji said.
He also rejected the local firm’s contention that the meaning of Lego as submitted by Leo Foods as ‘take and leave’. Its argument that they searched for traders in confectioneries under the name Lego before registering the trademark also did not cut ice with the court. It said Lego cannot seek rectification in a different class before it was declared a well-known mark. Lego filed a case in a Secunderabad court in 2003, and the court held that the petitioner enjoys a transborder reputation and that the Lego mark is a well-known mark. However, Leo Foods appealed before the Telangana high court, and the same is pending. Meanwhile, a rectification petition was filed before the Madras high court.
