Protecting German medical equipment manufacturer VBM Medizintechnik GmbH against the use of its 'VBM' mark by another entity, the Delhi high court has nixed the claim of a company which was using the initials claiming they denoted the 'Holy Trinity' of Hindu gods 'Vishnu, Brahma and Mahesh'.
Justice C Hari Shankar, while dealing with a lawsuit by VBM Medizintechnik, observed the defendant was running 'VBM India Co' while dealing in equipment manufactured by the plaintiff as its distributor as well as those produced by third parties.
The court said it was unable to accept the defendant's "ingenious explanation" about the holy triad. Underlining that there was no document on record to support the contention that the defendant envisaged VBM as an acronym for 'Vishnu Brahma Mahesh', the court observed its use was bound to confuse the consumers.
"While the defendant might, perchance, have exposed himself to divine retribution for having invoked the Holy Trinity for unholy ends, this Court, on a more terrestrial plane, also finds itself unable to accept this somewhat ingenious explanation for the acronym 'VBM'," said Justice Shankar in a recent order.
The counsel for the plaintiff disputed the defendant's claim on the ground that the Holy Trinity was not 'Vishnu Brahma Mahesh' but 'Brahma Vishnu Mahesh', as the names of the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer are always cited in that order and not in any random sequence.
In its interim order, the court said the 'Vishnu Brahma Mahesh' explanation was too facile to pass legal muster, and directed that pending disposal of the lawsuit, the defendant shall be restrained from using VBM either as part of its corporate name or as a trademark in respect of medical equipment or any allied/cognate goods or services. -- PTI