In a major setback for Coca-Cola, a federal appeals court in the US has ruled that the company’s sales of Thums Up and Limca have India and other countries did not justify the cancellation of another company’s US trademark for a soft drink of the same name.
According to a Reuters report, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit revived the US trademark of Meenxi Enterprise Inc., after Coca-Cola failed to prove that it had caused any damages in the United States that warranted challenging it. Will give basis
Parle Bisleri introduced Limca Lemon-Lime soft drink in India in 1971 and Thums Up Cola in 1978. Coca-Cola bought the rights to the drink in 1993.
Thums Up and Limca are sold extensively in India and other countries in Asia and Africa. Coca-Cola also said that importers have been selling them in the US since at least 2005.
Meenakshi has been selling the drink under the same name to Indian grocers in the United States since 2008, and received a federal trademark for them in 2012. Coca-Cola asked the US Patent and Trademark Office to revoke the registration in 2016.
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has found that Coca-Cola may bring the case because Meenaxi’s products could damage the drink’s reputation among Indian-Americans. It canceled the registration after Meenakshi tried to “deceive” US consumers.
The Federal Circuit said Wednesday that the board should not challenge the Coca-Cola trademark because the company did not show that it was injured in the United States.
The court held that Coca-Cola does not sell the beverage widely in the US and does not demonstrate any reduction in sales from Meenakshi’s products. The sale of the drink by third party importers also did not establish a reputation for the company under trademark law.
The alleged damage to Coca-Cola’s reputation among the Indian-American community could not sustain the case. The Federal Circuit said that “there is no basis to believe that an Indian-American is aware of brands in India,” and the board’s opposite conclusion “relies on at least some degree of conservative speculation.”
The case is Meenakshi Enterprise Inc. v The Coca-Cola Company, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 21-2209.
With inputs from Reuters
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