The Delhi Trade Marks Registry has retracted its approval of the “Chutiyaram” trademark, attributing the initial acceptance to “error.” The registry now asserts that the mark is subject to objections under Sections 9 and 11 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999.
This reversal comes after the publication of the mark in the Trademark Journal on Monday, which triggered widespread controversy. Previously, on March 4th, Senior Trademark Examiner Balaji had issued an order accepting the mark, stating it was a combination of the “arbitrary words” “Chuti” and “Ram.”
According to the original order, “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 differentiated 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.” This justification has now been deemed erroneous by the registry itself, leading to the mark’s withdrawal.
The order further noted that the mark bore no direct reference to the applied goods, i.e. namkeen and biscuits.
According to the report, there were questions raised as to how the mark bypassed the scrutiny under Section 9(2)(c) of the Trade Marks Act, prohibiting the registration of trademarks that are “scandalous, obscene, or against public morality.”
According to the Indian trademark law, registering expletives or offensive words as trademarks is prohibited.