Mahindra to contest ‘BE 6e’ trademark against IndiGo in court, changes electric SUV brand name to ‘BE 6’
- Mahindra Group will rename the SUV brand ‘BE 6’, but ‘the claim by IndiGo is baseless,’ and it will challenge it during court proceedings, the automaker said in a statement on Saturday
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) announced on Saturday, December 7, that it has decided to rename its new electric vehicle (EV) brand 'BE 6' but noted that it will continue to vigorously contest IndiGo's trademark 'BE 6e' in court. The move comes after InterGlobe Aviation, which owns IndiGo airlines, took the leading automaker to court over the usage of ‘6E’ in its new EV brand.
IndiGo, India's largest domestic airline, sued the automaker for using its call sign and widely used brand name, "6E." The Mahindra Group will rename the SUV brand "BE 6," but "the claim by IndiGo is baseless," and it will challenge it during court proceedings, the automaker said in a statement on Saturday.
Mahindra-IndiGo dispute
"Our priority is ensuring an excellent customer experience as we take our product to the market. We would not like to get distracted from our vision of popularising electric transport in India," M&M said. It added, “We also find 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.”
Hence, the company has decided to brand its product as "BE 6.” "We, however, believe the claim by IndiGo is baseless and, if not challenged, will set an unhealthy precedent of monopolising alpha-numeric 2-character marks despite our distinctive and different mark. This will be enormously constraining for all companies across industries and sectors," said the leading automaker.
"We will thus continue to strongly contest this in court and reserve our right to the brand name BE 6e," it added. M&M said in the past, Tata Motors had objected to InterGlobe using the IndiGo mark, given their Tata Indigo car brand.
"InterGlobe continues to use the mark IndiGo in different industries and businesses. Therefore, we find their objection to BE 6e consistent with their own previous conduct," it added. Mahindra revealed its electric-origin SUVs, the BE 6e and XEV 9e, on November 26, 2024. IndiGo, which has a 60 per cent share of India's domestic aviation sector, has used "6E" across all its branding for years, including its co-branded credit cards and in-flight magazine.
Mahindra said it has applied for trademark registration under class 12 (vehicles) for "BE 6e" as part of its electric-origin SUV portfolio. The automaker said the mark "BE" is already registered with Mahindra in Class 12. It stands for its "born electric" platform, which underpins the BE 6e. It elaborated further that the company's mark is "BE 6e" not the standalone "6E".
"We believe it differs fundamentally from IndiGo's "6E," which represents an airline, eliminating any risk of confusion. The distinct styling further emphasises its uniqueness," it stated. The company's registration application is for an entirely different industry sector and product; hence, it does not see any conflict.
Mahindra's BE 6e is gaining popularity as a futuristically designed sports e-SUV. The brand name "BE" is pronounced "Be," and "6e" is a play on "Be Sexy." The car is one of five all-electric models that Mahindra plans to launch by 2028. Its BE line-up will include models named BE 5e, BE 7e, etc., while Mahindra's other EV brand, XEV, saw its first launch under the XEV 9e nameplate.
Catch all the Business News , Corporate news , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
Business NewsCompaniesNewsMahindra to contest ‘BE 6e’ trademark against IndiGo in court, changes electric SUV brand name to ‘BE 6’
First Published:7 Dec 2024, 05:53 PM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High