Scandal and Obscene Trademarks: Determining Immoral Trademarks in Indian Law

Discussing the historical foundation of the absolute ground of refusing scandalous marks and its implementation by the Indian Trademark Registry, we are pleased to bring to you this guest post by Prof. M P Ram Mohan and Aditya Gupta. In this post, the authors highlight the historical justification behind the drafting of the provision prohibiting the registration of scandalous and obscene marks and undertake a purposive sampling of the actions taken by the Trademarks Registry against applications for such marks. Prof. M P Ram Mohan is a Professor in the Strategy Area at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and Aditya Gupta…