Delhi High Court Flags Procedural Lapse, Orders Removal of Copyright for Imitative Artwork

Recently, the High Court of Delhi, directed the Registrar of Copyrights to remove the copyright registration obtained by Vijay Keshav Wagh (“Respondent”) for the artistic work titled “SHREE SAKSHAT” since it copied the TIGER beer logo owned by Heineken Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (“Petitioner”).

It was the Petitioner’s case that the Respondent’s artistic work clearly incorporates the Petitioner’s identical artistic work of its mark TIGER. The Petitioner also claimed that mere addition of the letter V in the backdrop of TIGER, and the words ‘SHRI’ (in Hindi) on top and ‘SAKSHAT’ (in English) at the bottom of the letter V do not substantially change the character or nature of work. As such, the Respondent’s artistic work infringes the Petitioner’s original work which enjoys protection in India by virtue of the Berne Convention. On the other hand, the Respondent argued that no exclusive rights can be claimed on the TIGER logo since there are several brands who use the mark TIGER or its logo, and, therefore, the word TIGER and its logo are diluted.

The court was of the opinion that the Petitioner’s TIGER logo has been entirely copied by the Respondent. In this regard, the court noted a procedural lapse by the Trade Marks Registry in adhering to the mandate of the Copyright Act and the Rules. The court observed that the Copyright Act requires the applicant to declare that no trademark application or registration exists for any mark that is deceptively similar to the artistic work. In addition, it also requires the Trade Marks Registry to issue a mandatory search certificate confirming that no conflicting marks exist on the register.

The court observed that the mandatory requirement of the law was not effectively carried out. The mandatory search certificate issued by the Trade Marks Registry before the copyright registration did not include the Petitioner’s previously registered TIGER trade marks. This oversight prevented the Registrar of Copyrights from adequately assessing whether the work claimed by the Respondent was original or not. Accordingly, the court directed the Registrar of Copyrights to remove the Respondent’s artistic work from the register.

Heineken Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd vs. Mr. Vijay Keshav Wagh and Ors. [CO(COMM.IPD-CR) 18/2023 & I.A. 23338/2023]

Copy of the Judgment can be accessed at