Trademark Law Declared by the Supreme Court of India in Twenty-First Century (2000–2009) — I

Abstract

The Parliament of India makes, amends, and unmakes law. The Supreme Court of India (hereinafter, the Supreme Court),under Article 141 of the Constitution of India, declares the law and makes and unmakes the law. These constitutional powers oftwo branches are related but separate. The Supreme Court in the first decade of 21st century has delivered 23 decisions on thetrademark law. On an average, the Supreme Court has decided 2.3 (point three) trademark cases in a year; or one trademarkcase in 158.82 (point eight two) days or in .43 (point four three) years. A review of reported 21st century decisions reveals thatthe Court has: (i) declared trademark law in 17 decisions; (ii) not only interpreted the provisions of the statutes but has alsoconstructed them; (iii) not declared anything on the constitutionality of the trademark statutes as no such question ofconstitutionality was brought before it; (iv) delivered all the decisions unanimously as no dissenting or concurring judgment isreported; and (v) decided maximum number of cases by Division Bench (21) and remaining 2 cases by Full Bench. It is alsoobserved that no sitting or acting Chief Justices of India was on the Bench in any of the cases. Paper proceeds with the sameargument and method as developed in the first four papers on patent law, copyright law, design law and trademark law intwentieth-century published under the theme ‘IP Laws Declared by the Supreme Court’. This Paper seeks to cull out theprinciples of trademark law as declared by the Supreme Court in the first decade of the twenty-first century.