BUSINESS

'CHUTIYARAM'! The salty snacks under this brand name may soon hit the market in Delhi after Delhi Trademark Office accepted the application for registration of this mark under Class 30 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999.

The mark triggered a controversy and sparked a debate among the lawyers of the intellectual property rights in Delhi.

However, it became official after it had appeared in the Trademark Journal published on Monday.

What did Senior Trademark Examiner say?

Senior Trademark Examiner Balaji said in his order issued on March 4, "None appeared observed and ordered that since this is the fourth hearing the instinct mark is a combination of two arbitrary words Chuti and ram and the instinct mark as a whole is distinctive and it can be differentiate from the person to others and the Instinct mark has no direct reference to the applied goods, hence objection u/s 9 waived and the mark accepted."

According to 'Bar and Bench', the examiner said that the mark is a combination of two words, "Chuti" and "Ram", and concluded that as a whole, it is distinctive and can be distinguished from other trademarks.

Restrictions

Waiving the objections under Section 9(1), he also said that the trade mark bears no direct reference to the applied goods, namkeen and biscuits.

Earlier, the mark sparked a controversy as under Indian trademark law, expletives or offensive words can not be registered as trademarks.

The trademarks that are considered scandalous, obscene, or contrary to public morality, are especially barred under Section 9(2)(c) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999.

Besides, trademarks that offend religious sentiments, deceive consumers, or are contrary to public order may also be rejected.

'Chutiyawale' and 'Chutiyalal' rejected

‘CHUTIYARAM’ is registered under Class 30 of the Nice Classification (NCL) system, which includes a broad range of food products primarily composed of plant-based ingredients or used as seasonings.

Proprietor of the trade mark, Sadhna Goswami, also applied for marks like "Chutiyawale" and "Chutiyalal". These were rejected.