Ahmedabad: The state government has confirmed the rights of his trademark for the word ‘Sardar’ for the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and forces a industrialist to rename one of his products.
PSU Government Gujarat, Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd.
(GSFC), has demanded a Dashrath Patel of Indian Agro Chemicals has a unit in Dholka GIDC for the PSU trademark Sardar violation.
The industrial unit has smashed its fertilizer as ‘Sardar Seven Star’.
As soon as GSFC knows this, it filed a trademark lawsuit with Ahmedabad Rural Court in Mirzapur in September 2020 claiming that he enjoyed the trademark rights for the word ‘Sardar’ for various fertilizer and chemical products because they have received registered labels since 1967.
GSFC demands that Agro India was ordered to stop selling its products under any name using the Sardar word and looked similar to registered trademarks.
It even looks for damage to Rs 1 Crore to lose a reputation and good intention with a 12% interest per year.
Agro India immediately received GSFC claims and dropped the Sardar word from the brand of the product and turned it into Sarkar Seven Star.
However, it feels like the use of the word ‘Sarkar’ can also land it in trouble, he stopped using the word Sarkkar too.
Last month, the company told the court that he had stopped using a disputed trademark and had been done with words – Sardar and Sarkar – and therefore the court could not order it to pay GSFC.
It also convinced the court that it would not use this disputed trademark for its products.
In a pass through last week, the Special Judge of the SSP Jain from the commercial court received an Australian Agro business and settlement between the two companies and ended the dispute.
This is a second run-in for GSFC with any private industry for his statement over the Sardar brand.
A few years ago, it has dragged a Biochem Fertilizer Sardar to the city court for this problem.
But the company’s owner, Ashok Patel, insisted on the ownership of the Sardar brand and filed an argument that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel belonging to the Patidar community.
Become a member of the community, he enjoys the right to use the word ‘Sardar’.
Patel died during last year’s pandemic and GSFC pulled his case, said Advocate Patel Samrat Mehta.