John Abraham loses Bajaj battle!

thehindubusinessline: Actor-producer John Abraham has lost a case related to infringement of trademark filed by Bajaj Auto against his production company JA Entertainment. The auto major, had in April this year, dragged the movie production house to the Bombay High Court for using ‘Hamara Bajaj’ as the title of its upcoming movie.

Passing an order, Justice S J Kathawala slapped a permanent injunction restraining the production house, or their representative, from using the registered trademark ‘Bajaj’.

The court also restrained the production house from using the trademark related to ‘Bajaj’ in their proposed film.

“In view of the defendants’ (JA Entertainment) submitting to a decree, the plaintiffs (Bajaj Auto) are not pressing for any costs or damages. The suit is accordingly disposed of,” Justice Kathawala said in his order.

JA Entertainment, which produced the blockbuster Vicky Donor, was planning to make a movie titledHamara Bajaj, starring Ayushman Khurrana and Yami Gautam. It was supposed to go on the floors by the end of 2013 and had roped in Shoojit Sircar, who directed Vicky Donor and Madras Cafe.

Bajaj Auto, in its filing before the Bombay High Court, contented copyright infringement. It refers to unauthorised use of someone else’s work or intellectual property without the written permission of the trademark holder.

However, arguing before Justice Kathawala in April, Sanjiv Punalekar, representing JA Entertainment, claimed that the movie is not related to the auto company in any way, and that the title does not refer to the Bajaj scooter or the Bajaj group, makers of Bajaj motorbikes and Chetak scooters. “There are so many people in this country with the surname Bajaj, and the movie talks about a character named Bajaj,” he said.

There have been similar instances in the past. In 2010, fast moving consumer goods firm Emami had sued Arbaaz Khan Productions for using ‘Zandu Balm’ in the movie’s popular number Munni Badnaam Hui. Emami won the battle.

Meanwhile, John Abraham, in a public forum recently, had said that ‘Hamara Bajaj’ is only a working title for his next production and that he was tired of litigations.