Member Article

India, being a common law country, enjoys certain privileges when it comes to Trademark Law. In addition to priority rights for “first to use”, and the remedy of “passing off’’ for unregistered marks, there exists another age-old common-law right, not typically considered in global strategy - the transborder reputation of an extra territorial trademark. One does wonder, in this flat world, global market scenario, how trademark rights can still remain territorial and protected only in the jurisdiction of commercial use. Given that almost all brands today have an online presence, accessible to anyone in the world, enforcement in a territory with no commercial presence has always been the greatest challenge for rights holders.