After several years of legal battle over the Registrar of Trade Marks, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation has won the right to the abbreviation KSRTC, which is also used by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation. In 2014, Karnataka SRTC registered with the Trade Marks Registrar and gave a notice to Kerala SRTC not to use it. This triggered protests in Kerala, where the public transport unit is also known as Anavandi. Kerala SRTC had contacted the Office of the Registrar of Trade Marks in Chennai, But his petition was stuck as the Karnataka SRTC had already registered the abbreviation. Advocate Vizzy George Tokat, appearing for Kerala SRTC, submitted that the application was finally accepted on the ground that Kerala SRTC had earlier started using the abbreviation. He said the Kerala SRTC had submitted several documents, including scenes from the 1969 Malayalam film, Kannur Deluxe, which was shot on a Kerala SRTC deluxe bus running between Kannur and Thiruvananthapuram.
“Kerala SRTC came into existence before Karnataka SRTC. Hence, Kerala SRTC had the first user benefit as per Section 34 of the Trade Marks Act,” said Tokat, who practices in the Kerala High Court. “Besides the abbreviation, we have also got trademark registration for Aanvandi, KSRTC emblem and color design used by various categories of Kerala SRTC buses.” He said Karnataka cannot file a petition alleging SRTC violation. “It may continue to use the name,” Tokat said. Kerala also intends to use the domain name indicating the SRTC acronym. Currently both KSRTC.com and KSRTC.in are used by Karnataka, while Kerala SRTC uses online.keralartc.com. Biju Prabhakar, MD, Kerala SRTC said, “Karnataka SRTC has both the domain names, So online traffic goes to them. This is affecting Kerala RTC revenue in inter-state routes. We will convey our stand to Karnataka. He clarified that this should not be seen as a fight between two states. “In a federal system, two states need not engage in an open fight… Kerala government and Kerala SRTC wanted to settle the issue amicably,” he said. .
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