Recently, Jaguar Land Rover Limited (“Jaguar”) which has been using the mark “DISCOVERY” for its Four Wheeler SUV “LAND ROVER DISCOVERY” opposed the registration of the mark “DISCOVERER” at the Opposition Board of the Japan Patent Office (“JPO”). The applicant of the mark “DISCOVERER” had applied for its registration with respect to “batteries and cells, telecommunication machines and apparatus, recorded video discs, and other goods”. Jaguar contended that the mark “DISCOVERER” was confusingly similar to Jaguar’s mark “DISCOVERY”. However, the Opposition Board stated that Jaguar had not placed enough materials/ evidence on record to prove the degree of popularity and reputation of Jaguar’s mark “DISCOVERY”. Further it was of the opinion that the marks were visually, phonetically and conceptually distinguishable and hence deemed dissimilar. It observed that the word Discovery was a generic word. The goods that both the parties dealt in were so varied that the chances of confusion amongst consumers were less.

A cursory search of the mark “DISCOVERY” in India revealed that the mark is Objected as of now. Ironically, in its reply to Examination Report, Jaguar states that its mark “DISCOVERY” can peacefully co-exist with Discovery Communication LLC’s (the Discovery Channel) “DISCOVERY” since the parties deal in dissimilar goods and that Jaguar has filed for a specific set of goods, i.e. Passenger Vehicles only.

Compiled by: Adv. Sachi Kapoor | Concept & Edited by: Dr. Mohan Dewan

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