New Delhi, Feb 07: The Delhi High Court ruled on Friday that logos and images associated with Ratan Tata and Tata Trusts cannot be used without permission, recognizing Tata as a well-known trademark and Ratan Tata as a prominent individual deserving of protection.
Justice Mini Pushkarna's bench was hearing a case brought by the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Tata Sons Pvt Ltd, which sought an injunction against Rajat Srivastava, who planned to host an event called the "Ratan Tata Icon Award."
The lawsuit alleged that despite being informed of the infringement, the defendants continued to promote and advertise the unauthorized event, falsely claiming support from Tata Trusts and the late Ratan N Tata. During the proceedings, the defendants agreed to cancel the event and stop using Ratan Tata’s name.
Acknowledging this, the court requested an undertaking from the defendants to comply with the ruling and scheduled a follow-up hearing for February 12. Tata’s interests were represented by Senior Advocate Rajeev Nayar.
The case was filed by the law firm Anand and Anand, with Pravin Anand and Achuthan Sreekumar representing the plaintiffs. According to the suit, after learning of the unauthorized event planned for February 10, 2025, at the Constitutional Club of India and Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, the plaintiffs sent a representative to confirm the claims.
The representative found that Maharashtra Sadan had no knowledge of the event and considered the use of their name to be unauthorized and unexpected.
