AN INDIAN businessman has won a legal battle against a famous Scottish brand over a trademark dispute.
Vivek Anasane, 41, applied to register the name of his blended whisky, ‘Glenfield’ to launch it in the UK as part of his overseas business expansion plan.
However, the Mumbai-based drinks firm faced a legal hurdle after William Grant & Sons objected to the application, saying the new product overlapped with its registered trademark, ‘Glenfiddich’.
The owner of the world’s biggest single malt whisky, Glenfiddich, added that the customers could confuse with the two products due to the similarities in the product design.
The Indian firm’s new product features the same green and gold colours on its label as well as a stag similar to Glenfiddich, it alleged.
However, the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) ruled that people were unlikely to confuse with the two products.
Trademark hearing officer Mark Bryant was quoted as saying in The Times: “I am of the view that the applicant’s mark will not even bring the opponent’s mark to mind let alone confuse the consumer into believing that the goods sold under the respective marks originate from the same or linked undertaking.”
He noted that the people would understand that the word ‘Glen’ was fashioned to highlight, Scotland.
Bryant further said that the differences on the labels help the consumers to differentiate the two products and there were not adequate similarities for misrepresentation to occur in the future.
