Mahindra to Legally Challenge IndiGo's Brand Rights Over BE 6e
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Mumbai, Dec 7 (NationPress) Prominent automotive manufacturer Mahindra declared on Saturday its determination to vigorously contest the brand rights to its electric SUV ‘BE 6e’ in court, after InterGlobe Aviation Limited, which operates IndiGo airline, initiated legal action against Mahindra for utilizing the name ‘6E’.
Mahindra clarified that its trademark is “BE 6e”, not just the “6E”, asserting its entitlement to the brand name “BE 6e”.
Earlier this week, InterGlobe Aviation lodged a trademark infringement lawsuit against Mahindra Electric concerning the ‘6E’ designation in its new vehicle, the Mahindra BE 6e. The ‘6E’ designation by IndiGo pertains to an airline.
In a recent statement, Mahindra expressed that it finds it “unseemly that two large, Indian multinationals should engage in a distracting and unnecessary conflict when, in fact, we should be championing each other’s growth and expansion”.
“As a result, we are opting to brand our product as “BE 6”, it further stated.
“We believe it is fundamentally different from IndiGo’s ‘6E’, which signifies an airline, thereby eliminating any potential for confusion. The unique styling further enhances its individuality. Our registration application pertains to a completely different industry sector and product, which is why we do not perceive any conflict,” the automaker explained.
Additionally, “we would like to highlight that previously, Tata Motors objected to InterGlobe’s use of the IndiGo mark, due to their Tata Indigo vehicle brand”.
“InterGlobe continues to utilize the IndiGo mark in a different industry and business. Hence, we deem their objection to BE 6e to be inconsistent with their prior conduct,” Mahindra remarked, asserting that “we do not wish to be sidetracked from our vision of promoting electric transportation in India”.
Furthermore, the company expressed that IndiGo's claim is “baseless and if unchallenged, will establish an unhealthy precedent of monopolizing alpha-numeric 2-character marks, regardless of our mark being distinctive and dissimilar. This would impose significant constraints on companies across various industries and sectors”.
The hearing for the case is scheduled for December 9, as per reports.
