Bandra’s Carter’s Blue wins case against 4 eateries infringing on its trademark
Carters Blue
On Monday, the Bombay High Court ruled in favor of Carter’s Blue in Bandra, who had taken their competitors to court over using a similar name and violating their trademark.
Carter’s Blue is a popular eatery located at the end of Carter Road opposite Cafe Coffee Day. In the past, Mehboob Khan, the owner of Carter’s Blue, had spoken to the owners of the other restaurants and asked them to refrain from using similar names. However, after the owners failed to pay heed to Khan’s request, he decided to take them to court.
Khan had filed a case against Firoz Qureshi, Zaid Qureshi, Maaz Qureshi and Hakim Qureshi, owners of ‘Mezbaan Carter’s Blue’, ‘Mehboob Carter’s Blue’, ‘The Carter’s Blue’ and ‘Carter’s Express’, in June.
During the case hearing, HC observed that the names were ‘deceptively similar’ and asked the competitors to change the names of their restaurants. “It seems that all that the defendants (Qureshis) used similar names to pass off their business as being somehow connected to the plaintiff’s (Carter’s Blue) business. There is no other conceivable reason or explanation for the trajectory of the defendants’ conduct, said Justice Gautam Patel.
The bench also observed that the competitors had knowingly used similar names in a bid to ‘hijack the goodwill’ of Khan’s restaurant. “Taken as a whole they are deceptively, confusingly or strikingly similar. The reasons are many. Structurally, there is no difference at all. Phonetically and visually, too, the similarity is too close to be acceptable,” it added.
The Qureshis tried to produce other documents to substantiate their claim, including an agreement with Khan. But, the court rejected their argument and ruled in Khan’s favor.
