Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights connecting to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees. Infringement may occur when one party, the "infringer", uses a trademark which is similar to a trademark owned by another party, in relation to services or products. A Trademark owner may begin legal proceedings against a party which infringes its registration.
Mostly, Trademark infringement occurs when a person uses a trademark which may be either a symbol or a design, with resembles to the products owned by the other party. The trademark owner may begin a legal proceeding against a party, which infringes its registration.
Trademark Infringement Law
There are two types of trademark infringement laws in India to the owner of a trademark for unauthorized use of its imitation by a third party. There are two laws:- An action for passing off in the case of a registered trademark and an action for infringement in the case of an unregistered trademark. An infringement action and an action for passing off are very quite different from each other. An action for passing off is a common law remedy and an infringement action is a statutory remedy.
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Consequently, in order to establish infringement with regard to a registered trademark, it is very essential only to establish that the infringing mark is deceptively similar to the registered mark and no further proof is required. In the case of a passing off action, proving that the trademarks are deceptively similar alone is not adequate. The use of the trademark should be probable to deceive confusion. Further, in a passing off action it is essential to prove that the use of the trademark by the defendant is likely to cause injury to the plaintiff's goodwill, whereas in an infringement suit, the use of the mark by the defendant need not cause any injury to the plaintiff. Trademark infringement laws assist the trademark holders to keep awareness about infringement of trademark.
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