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January 16, 2026

Legal Issues Seminar-General IP (LIS-GIP) On Whether A Registered Proprietor Can Restrain Bona Fide Use Of One’s Own Name?

Featuring: Sonal Kumari

A Legal Issues Seminar was conducted by Sonal Kumari, Associate, on the topic “Whether a Registered Proprietor Can Restrain Bona Fide Use of One’s Own Name?”

This session analysed whether a registered trademark proprietor can restrain the bona fide use of a person’s own name under Section 35 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and examined the statutory interplay between Section 35, which protects bona fide own-name use, and Section 29, which governs trademark infringement.

The discussion highlighted that Section 35 does not provide automatic immunity. The session then examined instances where courts have diverged in their analytical approaches, alternating between the dominant feature test and whole-mark comparison. Ultimately, the session concluded that bona fide use is intention-centric, with courts closely scrutinizing timing of adoption, prior knowledge, proximity of business, and conduct suggestive of goodwill appropriation when determining whether such use can be restrained.

The Presentation can be accessed here.

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