Delhi High Court Criticises Niva Bupa’s Trademark Suit Against Influencer, Imposes Re 1 Cost
What Happened
The Delhi High Court allowed Niva Bupa Health Insurance to withdraw its ₹5 crore suit against influencer Vishal Rattewal and imposed a token cost of Re 1 after finding that the dispute did not belong before the court’s Intellectual Property Division. The court held that merely using a company’s name or trademark to refer to it in allegedly critical social media content does not constitute trademark infringement when the person is not using the mark “in the course of trade.”
Key Takeaways
The ruling reinforces a legal distinction between trademark infringement and criticism of a company. The court did not rule on the truthfulness of the influencer’s statements but concluded that the trademark claim was not maintainable under intellectual property jurisdiction.