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Informist, Wednesday, Mar. 11, 2026

 

--Hero MotoCorp moves HC against trademark agency registering 'MotorHunk' 

--Hero MotoCorp to HC: 'MotorHunk' similar to co's 'Hunk' trademark 

--HC notice to trademark body on Hero MotoCorp plea in 'MotorHunk' case 

--HC to hear Hero MotoCorp plea against trademark registry on May 11 

 

NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court Wednesday issued a notice to Registrar of Trademarks on Hero MotoCorp Ltd.'s plea against the registration of 'MotorHunk'. The trademarks agency registered 'MotorHunk' belonging to Nitin Khanna, founder of MotorHunk, a platform for automobile accessories.

 

Hero MotoCorp said the 'MotorHunk' trademark was deceptively similar to its registered trademark 'Hunk' for vehicles. The court also sought a reply from Khanna and listed the case for hearing on May 11. 

 

Hero MotoCorp argued that Khanna's usage of 'MotorHunk' trademark was nothing but a malafide intention to trade upon the higher reputation and goodwill acquired by the petitioner and earn undue advantage and illegal profit. Such adoption of the trademark will result in confusion in the course of trade and in the minds of the public regarding the origin of the goods, said Hero MotoCorp.

 

Hero MotoCorp said consumers will associate Khanna's mark with the company's mark 'Hunk'. The goods sold under the 'MotorHunk' trademark are identical goods as well as allied and cognate goods to the goods sold by the company, it said.

 

Khanna argued that marks should be compared as a whole and have to be seen in its entirety. Khanna's mark is an artistic device mark, whereas Hero MotoCorp's mark is a word mark, said the respondent. Hero MotoCorp has stopped using the mark also as its motorcycle model under the 'Hunk' name was discontinued in 2017, said Khanna. Consequently, Hero MotoCorp no longer enjoys any goodwill or trade reputation in relation to the 'Hunk' mark, Khanna said.

 

In October, the trademarks registry had said the marks when compared as a whole were very different and it was readily apparent that the rival marks exhibit significant dissimilarities. 'MotorHunk' mark is a device mark, wherein the word 'Motor' appears in red, using a modern, geometric sans-serif typeface with rounded edges and the word 'Hunk' appears in blue, using a bold sans-serif typeface and to the left of the text are three parallel diagonal lines, also in blue, said the registry. 

 

The registry said that Khanna's mark cannot be stated to resemble the marks of Hero MotoCorp in any manner and there exists no likelihood of confusion or deception in the minds of the general public or any likelihood of association between the marks. The overall perception of Khanna's mark, including its colour, font style and design employed in the label, differs significantly from that of Hero MotoCorp's mark, said the registry.

 

It is settled law that a mark has to be read as a whole and cannot be dissected, said the registry. The only common feature between both the marks is the term 'Hunk' as a suffix in Khanna's mark, and hence one remotely common factor cannot be taken up for comparison as it would go against the basic essence of the trademark law, said the registry.

 

At 1133 IST, shares of Hero MotoCorp were down 1.9% at INR 5,601.50 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Vandana Hingorani

 

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