It is an undisputed fact that ‘Kerala State road Transport Corporation’ and ‘Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation’ can be equally abbreviated as ‘KSRTC’. But who owns the trademark over the acronym ‘KSRTC’ is a matter of unsettled dispute, yet.
It was Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation who applied first for registration of acronym ‘KSRTC as their trademark. The applied for the registration of the trademark ‘KSRTC’ on 08/05/2012 stating that they were using the acronym ‘KSRTC as their trademark from 01/11/1973. Since there was no similar trademark in the register of the trademarks maintained by the Registrar of Trademarks under the Trademarks Act 1999 as on that date and no one opposed the application , the application of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation was accepted and acronym ‘KSRTC’ was registered in favour of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation on 24/03/2017.
The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation too applied for the registration of the acronym ‘KSRTC as their trademark on 27/03/2015 claiming prior usage from 01/04/1965. Accepting the prior usage claim of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation , the Registrar of Trademarks accepted their application and registered the acronym ‘KSRTC’ as their trademark , as well.
The simultaneous use of acronym ‘KSRTC’ by both the ‘Kerala State road Transport Corporation’ and ‘Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation’ caused to have negative commercial implications for both. So, dispute aroused who is the real owner and accordingly the decision was asked to be revived. As, as a consequence , it was reported that the Controller General of Patents Design and Trade Marks under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry vide its order dt June 2, 2021 allowed the acronym ‘KSRTC’ as the exclusive trademark of Kerala State road Transport Corporation. ( The said order is not yet available on public domain).
Even though the Controller General of Patents Design and Trade Marks under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry vide its order dt June 2, 2021 allowed the acronym ‘KSRTC’ as the exclusive trademark of Kerala State road Transport Corporation, the dispute would not settle there. The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation is said to seek legal options and to take further legal steps to get the order reversed in their favour.
So, who owns the acronym/ trademark ‘KSRTC’ is still remains as a unanswered question.
Now , what are the legal steps that can be taken by Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation? They can appeal to High Court and thereafter further appeal to Supreme court. Earlier the first appeal was to Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB). The Central Government by way of an Ordinance, namely the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalization and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021, published in the Gazette of India dated April 4, 2021 (the “Ordinance”) had abolished the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) which was established in 2003 under Trade Marks Act, 1999. The appeals pending before the IPAB, as on April 4, 2021 would be transferred to the respective High Courts.