HC tells authorities to 'apply mind' in name dispute between Lulu International and Coolulu Sports
Bengaluru, Apr 13: The High Court of Karnataka has ordered the Regional Director of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to apply its mind in resolving the dispute over the name between Coolulu Sports and Lulu International.
Koramangala-based Coolulu Sports and Entertainment Private Limited had approached the high court challenging the ministry's order to drop the word Lulu' from its name, following a complaint by Lulu International Shopping Malls Private Limited.
Coolulu Sports was incorporated in April 2018 under the Companies Act and is engaged in sports coaching, sports events and adult fitness events.
Following a complaint by Lulu International that a name similar to its own was being used, the regional director of the ministry had sent a show cause notice to Coolulu. On March 30, 2022, Coolulu was directed to change its name. This was the order challenged before the single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna.
The counsel for Coolulu Sports contended that "there is a world of difference between Lulu' and Coolulu'. Therefore, the order which directs the removal of the name Lulu' from the title name of the petitioner does not bear any application of mind to any of the provisions of law. It is bereft of reasons."
Lulu International's counsel argued that Lulu was a "well-known brand all over the world and for a well-known brand, a name that is too identical cannot exist in terms of Section 16 of the Trade Marks Act."
Coolulu had communicated with Lulu International in March 2021 soliciting cooperation for a synergy towards some strategic partnership in sports retail. It was only after this communication that the application against the name Coolulu was filed by Lulu International.
In his judgment, Justice M Nagaprasanna noted that the ministry had not recorded any reasons for the contentions raised by Coolulu and Lulu International.
"In a paragraph it is opined that the name is likely to create confusion between the two and therefore it should be removed. This is not the purport of Section 16 (of Trade Marks Act). An order which determines rights of parties, in the case at hand, is the rights of parties qua their names. It is trite, should bear application of mind. An order which does not contain any reason is an unreasonable order," the court said.
Disposing of the petition, the HC said, "The 2nd respondent (Ministry of Corporate Affairs) is required to pass an order afresh by recording reasons for the contentions so advanced both by the petitioner and the 3rd respondent (Lulu International), which would bear the stamp of application of mind."
Though the counsels for both companies advanced many arguments, the HC said they would be kept open till the authority passes a proper order.
Ordering the regional director to pass an order within three months, the HC said, "The 2nd respondent endowed with the statutory duty of such determination under Section 16 cannot pass an order which would depict an inscrutable face of the sphinx. Therefore, the contention of both the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned senior counsel for the 3rd respondent shall remain open."
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Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
