India Today Group's interim injunction against the TV channel Nation Today over the use of its trademark 'Today' was rejected prima facie by the Delhi High Court, reports SpicyIP. The court ruled that India Today Group cannot claim an injunction against the use of the name Nation Today despite it running the news channel Headlines Today under a license agreement. What hurt India Today's defense was a case it fought against Punjab Today, where India Today group argued that the mere use of the word 'Today' does not make the competing mark similar to its mark. While replying to the Examination Report issued by the Trademark Registry, it had stated that the conflicting mark 'Punjab Today' is visually, structurally and phonetically dissimilar to their mark 'India Today'. That being the case, the plaintiffs are barred by their own submissions from making such a claim against the mark 'Nation Today'. In the current case, the Nation today counsel alleged India Today Group of concealing facts as there are numerous third parties, apart from the defendants, who have adopted and are using the trade mark. It was also noted that an individual cannot be permitted to monopolise use of the said word, even if the person has more than 50 marks registered under a single class, all of which contain a word as descriptive to a business as "Today" for news business. At any rate, there is no registration of mark 'TODAY' under class 38. Further, the 'Today' formative marks mentioned by the plaintiffs are combination marks and do not provide…
