India’s Madras High Court cancels marks already registered
22 January 2026
India’s Madras High Court recently cancelled trademark registrations for Thufan in Tamil and Telugu by an electric fan manufacturer as it violated the Trade Marks Rules, 2002’s Rule 33.
An industry rival challenged the registrations, arguing that its own mark Toofan in English had been registered earlier than Thufan.
Kruttika Vijay | a partner @ Ira Law, New Delhi
“It is important to appreciate the intent underlying the inclusion of Rule 33 of the Trade Mark Rules, 2002. Rule 33 requires the translation or transliteration of a mark where it is not in English or Hindi so as to enable third parties to effectively search the Trade Marks Register and to allow the Trade Marks Registry to properly examine the application,” said Kruttika Vijay, a partner at Ira Law in New Delhi. English is commonly spoken in India, while Hindi is the most widely spoken Indian language.
“The decision of the High Court of Madras appears to be based on sound reasoning. Accordingly, treating Rule 33 as a mandatory provision is logical. In the facts of the present case, the court’s inference that the applicant’s failure to provide a translation or transliteration may have been intentional – aimed at avoiding scrutiny and securing registration – thus appears to be a reasonable conclusion,” Vijay added.
- Espie Angelica A. de Leon
