What Should It Take To Be Well-Known? Fashioning An Evidence-For-Benefits Matrix For ‘Well-Known Marks’ Under Indian Trademark Law

Abstract

Despite having one of the world’s best statutes for protecting well-known marks (‘WKMs’), the Indian judiciary’s attitude towards this area has been disappointingly bereft of assuredness or proportionality. Instead, Indian judges’ approach to offering WKM protection has dragged focus everywhere from annual balance sheets to the influence of globalization. This paper discusses the relevant provisions of the Indian statute, highlighting the protection offered to WKM proprietors and comparing these with selected international standards. This is used as the basis for splitting a decade-plus of case law into various categories according to standards employed by Courts in according to WKM status. These categories, in turn, are used to inform the central argument of the paper: an evidence-for-benefits matrix for according to WKM protection. Two conclusions are advanced. First, various types of evidence led by claimants need to be subjected to tougher standards which can be assessed on a factual gradient. Second, WKM status itself should not be treated as monolithic and should instead be divided into a spectrum of rights to be apportioned based on the quality of evidence produced by claimants.