If you are a 90’s kid, you must still be remembering the advertisement “Hamara Bajaj,” isn’t it?. Every household would definitely have one “Bajaj” product, say bajaj vehicle, water heater, fans, table fans at their disposal.
The trademark “BAJAJ” is used, recognized, and attached with the electrical appliances. With such an established reputation, using the trade name “Bajaj” in connection with any other product apart from electrical appliances would definitely raise an eyebrow.
Yet, “Bajaj ” is not a coined word but a surname commonly used in families around Punjab and Rajasthan, then why not use it for other verticals of Business, say Supermarket? Have you ever experienced this? When you listen to some commonly used word and associate it with one product. For example, when we think of Butterfly or Havel’s, we instantly relate them with household or electrical appliances.
There is a psychological point here that our human brain tends to relate a brand name with the product, and the literal meaning of the word is often diluted in the process. When we hear the word butterfly- we will either think of it as an insect or as a home appliance brand.
But, the majority of consumers will associate it with Home appliances only. That is called brand reputation, and that is what Bajaj Electricals have established in the Market.
Talking about Bajaj Brand, one cannot miss reading the case of trademark dispute where there was a clash between Bajaj Electricals and a Private Limited Company (Urban Food Mart Private Limited), a recently incorporated company running a Supermarket Business under the trade name “BAJAJ SUPERMARKET.”
Isn’t it an odd but commonly found situation where one brand name is used for two different business lines? Won’t the consumers get confused and associate the well-known Bajaj Electricals with the recently established supermart? If someone uses my brand name, I would have certainly taken action against them, and that’s exactly what Bajaj did. What to know more, then read the case till the end.
The Urban Food Mart Private Limited Company, incorporated in 2020, established a retail store, “BAJAJ SUPERMART”, and filed for registration of the brand under Class 35. When BAJAJ Electricals came to know about this, they filed an infringement suit against them and sought an interim/permanent injunction against the brand.
