Case Laws

TECHNOVA TAPES (INDIA) P. LTD.v. REGIONAL DIRECTOR [2010] 155 COMP CAS 395 (KAR) Anand B Yarareddy J [Decided on 9-9-2009]

Companies Act, 1956, Section 22 – name of Company – rectification – limitation – change of law – amendment giving right to proprietor of registered trade mark to apply within five years of knowledge of infringement – whether revival right to apply for rectification after expiry of limitation under old law – held , no

Brief Facts: The petitioner company changed its name and registered the company under the name “Technova” in the year 1995.The second respondent had also changed its name in the year 1993 but the word “Technova” had been and was part of its corporate identity since 1979. The second respondent filed an application under section 22 of the companies Act, 1956, on January 6, 2004, seeking a direction to the petitioner for deletion of the word, “Technova” or any variant thereof, from its name. In an order, the Regional Director directed the petitioner to delete the word “Technova” from its name within three months from the date of the order. The petitioner contested the order contending that the petitioner had been using the name for almost nine years and the period of limitation prescribed under section 22 of the 1956 Act, prior to the amendment in the year 2000, having expired, a subsequent amendment enlarging the period of limitation could not receive the rights which had already become barred by limitation. The second respondent contended that a right had accrued by the amendment to section 22 of the companies act and therefore, the extended period of limitation to file an application under section 22 of the Act in its capacity as a proprietor of the registered trade mark was within five years of its being aware of the registration of the petitioner company.

Decision: Petition allowed.

Reason: The second respondent’s remedy under section 22 of the 1956 Act had became barred under the unamended provision and it could not as a proprietor of a registered trade mark, claim, an extended period of limitation for the purpose of the  Companies Act, 1956. The remedy against infringement of a registered mark being availed to the second respondent to be established and adjudicated in independent proceedings, the application under section 22 of the 1956 Act was clearly barred by limitation.