The Free Journal Press reports
The development came with Justice C Hari Shankar setting aside the order passed by Registrar of Trademarks in January 2021 rejecting the application filed in 2017 by Agatha Christie Limited, the company set up by Christie in 1955 and now operated by her grandson. The court was informed that the application was rejected on the ground that the name “And Then There Were None” was not distinctive.
And Then There Were None’, one of the most celebrated books by Agatha Christie, is set to receive trademark registration more than 80 years after its publication with the Delhi High Court ruling in favour of Christie’s company which had sought trademark registration.
The development came with Justice C Hari Shankar setting aside the order passed by Registrar of Trademarks in January 2021 rejecting the application filed in 2017 by Agatha Christie Limited, the company set up by Christie in 1955 and now operated by her grandson. The court was informed that the application was rejected on the ground that the name “And Then There Were None” was not distinctive.
However, Justice Shankar has held that the order cannot sustain either on facts or in law as it fails to reason out how “And Then There Were None” is, by any reckoning, not a distinctive mark, when seen vis-à-vis the categories of services in respect of which registration was being sought.
The court noted that the Trade Marks Act, 1999, says that a “trade mark” must be capable of being represented graphically and must be capable of distinguishing the goods of one person from those of others.
