Skip to main content

A passing off dispute in India has clarified the main points that rights owners should follow when seeking to defend a trademark, as Geetanjali Visvanathan explains.

Trademark attorneys anywhere in the world would agree that to succeed in a case of passing off, the plaintiff must establish the classic trinity as laid down by the UK House of Lords in the case of Reckitt & Colman v Borden,ie, (i) goodwill or reputation; (ii) misrepresentation; and (iii) damage or its likelihood.

So, to cross the first hurdle in a case of passing off, the questions that arise are (i) what is goodwill?; (ii) what is the difference between goodwill and reputation?; and (iii) how does one prove goodwill?

The answer to the first two questions can be found in any book on trademark law. As succinctly stated in Kerly’s Law of Trade Marks and Trade Names, Fourteenth Edition: “Goodwill is the attractive force which brings in custom and is a form of legal property representing the connection between the business and customer. Reputation is a matter of fact and its existence does not require that there should be a business in the said jurisdiction.”

This article was published in World Intellectual Property Review.

Most Recent

News & Insights

VIEW ALL
News & Updates
Sep 15, 2025

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan & Abhishek Bachchan personality rights case Dhruv Anand talks to PTI TV about the significance of the order passed by the Delhi

Aishwarya Rai & Abhishesk Bachchan personality rights: Dhruv Anand’s exclusive with PTI TV
News & Updates
Sep 12, 2025

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan personality rights case: As Delhi HC grants interim protection to the Actor, Mr Pravin Anand spoke exclusively to ANI (Asian News

Aishwarya Rai personality case: Pravin Anand’s exclusive with ANI
News & Updates
Sep 12, 2025

Team Anand and Naik recently represented Mr. Abhishek Bachchan before the Delhi High Court, helping him secure his personality and publicity rights. Hon’ble

Team Anand and Naik Secures Personality Rights Protection for Mr. Abhishek Bachchan
News & Updates
Sep 11, 2025

Team Anand and Naik recently represented Mrs. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan before the Delhi High Court, helping her secure protection of her Personality and

Team Anand and Naik Secures Personality Rights Protection for Mrs. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan