BookMyShow doesn't have sole right over 'bookmy', rules Delhi HC

There is no straightforward process to determine whether a phrase is invented or descriptive, the Delhi High Court observed while dismissing a plea filed by online ticketing platform BookMyShow which sought a permanent injunction against another online portal BookMySports from using the terminology/phrase 'bookmy' on December 13.

Big Tree Entertainment, the company that owns BookMyShow.com filed an appeal against BookMySport suggesting that the prefix 'bookmy' was distinctively associated with their website, and added that the defendant BookMySport was attempting to exploit the goodwill and reputation.

Referring to a Supreme Court judgment, Justice Mukta Gupta observed that phrases or words that are descriptive of an industry cannot be distinctive to a particular brand.

"The question of whether a phrase is descriptive or invented was considered in great depth by the Supreme Court in 1994 Supp (3) SCC 215 JR Kapoor vs Micronix India, and it was held that a word which is descriptive of the industry or market in which the concerned party operates cannot be deemed to be invented," Justice Gupta observed.

Justice Gupta added a brand name cannot claim exclusivity or monopoly over a term which is descriptive of an activity in an industry.

SC OBSERVATION

• The Supreme Court in 1994 Supp (3) SCC 215 JR Kapoor vs Micronix India held that a word, descriptive of the industry, in which the  concerned party operates cannot be deemed to be invented