BackR-Adag challenges RIL’s application
R-Adag challenges RIL’s application
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New Delhi: The feuding Ambani brothers are now fighting over a trademark.
Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-Adag) has challenged Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) application to trademark Reliance Finance for its insurance and financial services business, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity. Mint could not independently ascertain the basis of the objection.
“We believe that there has been an objection and we are looking into the same," an RIL spokesperson said in an email without giving details. R-Adag declined to comment.
RIL’s unit Reliance Retail Ltd already sells financial products, including insurance, under the Reliance Finance brand. The group has now applied for the trademark in the financial services and insurance category.
R-Adag operates a financial arm called Reliance Consumer Finance Pvt. Ltd and has applied to trademark Reliance Financial for its insurance and financial services business.
Neither group owns the similar sounding trademarks.
R-Adag had filed for the trademark on 7 March 2007, barely two weeks before RIL’s application.
India’s Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademark office generally takes two-three years to process trademark applications before putting these up for the public, with a four-month window for objections. The office put up RIL’s application for public comments in November.
The two Reliance groups have applied for a raft of other similar sounding trademarks but until now have ignored each other’s applications.
For instance, RIL has already registered Reliance Big in the retail and hospitality sector though R-Adag uses the Big moniker for its entertainment and media businesses.
RIL has also applied for Reliance Big Boy, Reliance Big Lots, Reliance Big Box.
R-Adag, in turn, has registered Reliance Big Retail, though RIL operates a billion-dollar retail venture under Reliance Retail.
It has also applied for names such as Big Reliance, Big Fresh Mall and Reliance Fast Retail.
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