Comprehensive Study of the Law of Passing-off in India

Rising incidents of violation of trademarks and tort of passing-off are an increasing concern not only in India but across the world. These incidents infringe the rights of business owners and contribute to unfair commercial practices. The purpose of this study is to analyze the laws present in India to deal with the cases of passing-off and to comprehensively study the tort of passing-off. The research tells the reader about the tort of passing-off along with its essentials. The law of passing-off is necessary to provide relief to the business owners having unregistered trademarks and prevent the purchasers from being deceived in the market. The elements of passing-off like goodwill, misrepresentation, and damage, which are required to establish the tort of passing-off, are explained along with the case which propounded the elements. Moreover, some Indian cases are also mentioned and explained to study the law presently in India efficiently. Further, the difference between infringement of trademark and passing-off has been drawn to distinguish between them. According to the laws present in India, to file the suit against the defendant under the violation of trademark, the plaintiff's mark must be registered whereas the registration of a mark is not necessary to initiate the case of passing-off. The study also speaks about the remedies that are available to aggrieved people in India. The study has successfully managed to analyze the tort of passing off and the laws present in India which deal with such matters.