on
Submitted to:
Mrs Monica Suri
Submitted By:
1
ACKNOWLEDGEMETS
Thank you
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vs
3
TRADEMARK WAR
2. HISTORY 9
3. IPR 22
4. NON COMPETE 26
AGREEMENT
5. 35
CONTRACT LAW
6. 37
FACTS OF THE CASE
7. 44
HEARINGS DETAILS
8. 47
STUDENT VERDICT
ANALYSIS
INDEX
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‘THE SWEET TASTE OF PURITY”
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capture the consumer's attention). The campaign
was successful and they were being noticed as
someone who catered to the need for safe, healthy
drinking water.
OPERATION OF BISLERI: –
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The Bisleri bottled water range comprises the
conventional 500 ml, one liter, 1.2 liter and two liter
bottles; five liter and 20 liter jars for the home
segment, and smaller packs sizes of 250 ml cups and
330 ml bottles, though in very limited numbers for
now. Among all pack sizes the brand straddles, it is
the one-liter non-returnable bottles priced at Rs 10
each, and the 20-litre jars for Rs 40 aimed at the
home segment that are Bisleri’s bestsellers at
present. While the 20-litre jar comprises about 40 per
cent of overall Bisleri sales, the one-liter bottles
account for approximately 25 per cent brand sales.
The main source of water is bore wells from where
they get thee water. Then the raw materials required
for the bottle is PET i.e. poly ethylene terephatalable.
There are 250 workers working in Mumbai and 3000
all over India. The production process adopted by
bisleri is batch production. The time taken to fill one
bottle is approximately 5 minutes. The workers work
in 3 shifts which comprises of 60-70 workers per
shift. The maintenance of the machines is done every
month and every 45 days there is sanitation and
cleaning of the machine.
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The world's most recognized
trademark in the World!
It is recognized by 94% of the
world's population.
Coca-cola at a glance:
The world has changed since pharmacist , john styth
pemberton first introduced the refreshing taste of
coca-cola in Atlanta , Georgia. The name and product
mean so many things to hundreds of millions of
consumers around the globe. coca cola products are
served more than 705 milion times every day
,quenching the thirst of consumers in more than 195
countries in every climate
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In 1917 3 million bottles were sold per day with trade
mark of worlds most recognized trade mark
1923- Company was sold to Ernest woodruff for 25
million dollar he gave coca cola to his son Robert
woodruff under his leadership he sold coke in 40
other countries and moreover sales of coke raised to
6 million per day.
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This expansion continued with the acquisition of the
brands like LIMCA, MAZZA THUMPS UP etc. In effect,
by 1997, the company sold 1 billion servings of its
products everyday
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network of 21 contract packers, manufactures a
range of products for the company on distribution
part 10 tonne trucks – open bay three wheelers that
can navigate the narrow alleyways of Indian cities –
constantly keep brand available in every part of the
country.
1. COCA-COLA
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In INDIA coca cola was the leading soft drink until
1977 then after due to some changes in government
policies coca cola Company made to depart from
India however the company ensured its return in
1993 by along with making huge investment which
till now proved to be successful
CAN: - 330ml
2. THUMS UP
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Known for its strong cola taste
CAN: - 330ml
3. MAZZA
GLASS:-200ml, 250ml
PET: - 1000ml
4 KINLEY
PET:-500ml, 1000ml
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It is a 62 years successful story. This product
history goes back to 1945 when Florida Food
Corporation developed an orange juice powder
later the company found an process which
eliminated 80% water from orange juice and
resulted in concentrated juice
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
RIGHTS
AN UNDERSTANDING OF INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY:
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Intellectual property basically refers to creations of
mind they can be inventions, literary and artistic
works and symbols , names , images and designs
used in commerce
Industrial property:
This included patents, trademarks, industrial designs
and geographic indications of source
Copyrights:
Which includes literary and artistic works such as
novels, poems and plays, films , musical works ,
artistic works such as drawings , paintings ,
photographs and sculptures , and architectural
designs . Rights related to copyright include those of
performing artists in their performance, procedures
of phonograms in their recording, and hose of
broadcasters in their radio and television programs
TRIPS:
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The TRIPS agreement introduced intellectual
property law into the international trading system for
the first time and remains the most comprehensive
international agreement on intellectual property to
date. After the Uruguay round, the GATT became the
basis for the establishment of the world trade
organization membership. As the rectification of
TRIPS is a compulsory requirement of world trade
organization membership, any country seeking to
obtain easy access to the numerous international
market opened by world trade organization must
follow the strict norms , rules regulation laid by
TRIPS. That is why TRIP is a very important
multilateral instrument for globalization of
intellectual property rights
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2. The copyright amendment act , 1999 passed by
both houses of the Indian parliament , and
signed by the president of India on December
30, 1999
23
It has been further alleged that India has failed to
meet its current obligations required under Articles
70.8 and 70.9 of the TRIPS agreement by
implementing appropriate conforming mail box and
exclusive marketing rights procedures. However, the
government of India has taken the following steps to
meet its obligations under articles 70.8 and 70.9
INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY RIGHTS
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A publisher may own a copyright of his book and
his book is sold without his consent and at reduced
price which may harm his investment then this
said to be an example of infringement of
intellectual property.
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some enforcement measures are a must in this
situation that is where our governing body trade
related aspect of intellectual property or in other
words TRIPS comes into the picture to sort the
matters and dispute efficiently
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Companies have often invested a great deal of
money in building a client base or perfecting
processes or inventions. These things need to be
kept confidential in order to survive in the business
world. Employees in sales or manufacturing are often
exposed to important secrets including customer lists
or trade secrets. Companies understandably want to
protect this information. The result is a non-compete
agreement.
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or file a case against the employee to make him quit
the new job. If the new employer asks to see an old
non-compete agreement it may refuse to employ the
individual and thus an individual can have a great
deal of difficulty finding work.
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If an employee takes a position which the former
employer believes is in violation of the non-compete
agreement, it may sue the employee seeking a court
order to prevent the employee from working. The
former employer has a heavy burden in such cases.
First, it is going to have to show that the employee
has in fact taken or threatened to take an action in
violation of the non- Compete agreement. It is then
going to have to prove to the court that the non-
Compete agreement is valid – that is that it is for a
valid purpose and limited in time and geography. But
at the same time, to keep her job, the employee
must defend this case.
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TRADE MARKS ACT, 1999
[Act No. 47 of Year 1999 dated 30th. December,
1999]
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relating to registered trade marks as may be
prescribed.
32
Relevance of the Indian contract act 1872, in
intellectual property rights---coke takes Bisleri to
court
Section 2(h) of the contract act defines a
contract as “an agreement enforceable by law”
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2. Its enforceability at law
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The following are the essential elements of a
valid contract:
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3. LAWFUL CONSIDERATION: Consideration is
defined as quid pro-quo or something in return. The
legal maxim being ( Out of a bare agreement no
action arises)------ex nudo pacto non oritur actio ..
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b) It is of such nature that if permitted it would
defeat the provisions of the law
c) It is fraudulent
d) It involves an injury to the person or property
of any other
e) The court regards it as immoral or opposed to
public policy
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1. OFFER AND ACCEPTANCE:
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The other conditions were duly fulfilled. Free
consent was there .It was a lawful object, had
certainty of meaning, there was certainty of meaning
.It was not vague, there was possibility of
performance and all legal formalities were complied
with
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Chauhan said Bisleri had last week sent notices to
Coca Cola seeking compensation of 50 million dollars
over what he termed as "Coke's violation of the
original agreement between the two companies in
1993-94" for the sale of the brand.
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FACTS OF THE CASE
1. In the year 1993, The Coca Cola Company
(TCCC)re-entered the Indian market after its
exodus in the year 1977. After a long gap the
company wanted to establish its own market in
the soft drink segment. So in order to capture
the market , The Coca Cola Company offered the
purchase for several brands from the Bisleri
Company (formerly known as Aqua Minerals).
Bisleri accepted the offer and decided to sell out
its brand (mainly soft drink brands) to The Coca
Cola Company(TCCC) .
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3. However coca cola tried to file for the
registration of “Maaza” trademark in turkey on
april 12,2007. although it withdrawn from it later
on. TCCC also applied for the registration in
Europe. So due to above actions of TCCC , Bisleri
Chaiman , Mr.Ramesh Chauhan sent a legal
notice asking the coca cola for compensation of
Rs 20 crore figure for the damage. And he also
assured that in case of delay of the damages,
the Bisleri would increase the damage claim. So
Bisleri held The Coca Cola Company(TCCC) for
the breach of IPR(Intellectual Property Right),and
stated that “the legal counsel maintains that
stealing of IPR is a cognizable offence and is not
bailable and no reputable company would go
about stealing another company’s IPR.”
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TCCC also sought to restrain Bisleri and its
sister concerns from disclosing the know-how,
formulation and other intellectual property used
in the preparation of Maaza. TCCC defied itself
from stating that the agreement was “NON
COMPETE” agreement.
HEARING PROCEDURE
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What is this dispute all about ? Bisleri International
(Bisleri) was the registered proprietor of the
trademark Maaza. In the year 1993, an agreement
was signed between The Coca Cola Company (TCCC)
and Bisleri, which assigned all the rights on the
trademark Maaza to TCCC along with other brands
including Thums Up, Gold Spot, Limca and Rim-Zim.
Thereby TCCC purchased the rights over the brand
Maaza and became the owner of the IP rights of
Maaza.
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*Currently few famous brands under Coca Cola India.
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beyond that. According to Bisleri, TCCC had no right
to get the trademark registered outside India.
According to Bisleri the international rights over the
trademark was retained by Bisleri and not given to
TCCC in the agreement.
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come to an agreement, it is okay, but otherwise we
would have to take legal recourse and seek
cancellation of registration of Maaza in India," Bisleri
International Chairman Ramesh Chauhan told
reporters after sending legal notice.
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Coca-Cola took its stand on the acquisition of the
Maaza brand and the fact that it has the rights to
take it to other markets. “Nothing restrains The
Coca-Cola Company from registering the Maaza
trademark in a particular jurisdiction outside India, if
the law of that jurisdiction so permits. According to
them there were over 10 agreements entered into in
relation to Maaza. The terms of those agreements
entered into between the Parle entities and The
Coca-Cola Company do not exclude the use of the
trademark Maaza by The Coca-Cola Company outside
India in countries (other than India) where Maaza was
not registered by any of the Chauhan Entities at the
time the transaction closed in November 1993.
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After hearing both parties, the Delhi High Court held
that TCCC is the registered owner of the trademark
and shall suffer irreparable loss and injury if Bisleri
carries out its threatened actions in the legal notice
and starts using the trademark Maaza in India which
Bisleri has not done for the last nearly 14 years.
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time and that they r trying to reach a consensus
mutually.
ANALYSIS
COCACOLA’S ARGUMENTS
TCCC claims that terms of the agreement
entered between the Parle entities and The
Coca-Cola Company does not prevents them
from registering trademark Maaza outside India
in countries where Maaza was not registered by
any of the Chauhan Entities at the time the
transaction closed in November 1993.
Parle had the option of seeking a non-compete
agreement in relation to Maaza outside India,
but for reasons best known to.
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BISLERI ARGUMENTS
Bisleri claims that in the year 1993 the rights for
Thums Up, Gold Spot, Limca and Rim-Zim were
sold lock stock and barrel, except Maaza, whose
international rights were withheld by Bisleri
International.
GROUP’S VERDICT
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states permits them to do so and also Parle had
an option of entering into NON-COMPETE
agreement with TCCC but they chose not to
enter into it. As per TCCC although it did not buy
the trademark Maaza outside India, there was no
agreement that granted Bisleri the right to use
the formulations sold to and owned by TCCC
outside India.
After looking into the matter carefully group
unanimously reached onto that:-
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