Remanded

Gireesh Gangadharan v. Union of India

Kerala HC3 Jan 2023WP(C)/21670/2022

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The High Court of Kerala disposed of a writ petition challenging the rejection of a company name reservation. Noting that the authority allowed a fresh application after clarification and considering other names with 'GG' were approved, the court remanded the matter to the Registrar for fresh consideration without deciding the legality of the initial rejection.

What did the court decide?

Petitioner directed to submit fresh documents and explanation; Third Respondent to reconsider application and pass fresh orders within three months.

Gireesh Gangadharan Vs Union of India — Company and Corporate | Kerala HC (2023)

¶1

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

¶2

PRESENT

¶3

THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE V.G.ARUN

¶4

TUESDAY, THE 3^RD DAY OF JANUARY 2023 / 13TH POUSHA, 1944

¶5

WP(C) NO. 21670 OF 2022

¶6

PETITIONER/S:

¶7

GIREESH GANGADHARAN AGED 53 YEARS S/O. M.P. GANGADHARAN NAIR, GEETHA BHAVAN, SANATHANAPURAM P.O., KALARCODE, ALAPPUZHA - 688003 , PIN - 688003 BY ADVS. DEEPU THANKAN UMMUL FIDA LAKSHMI SREEDHAR R.RAJANANDINI MENON SHAHNAS K.P

¶8

RESPONDENT/S:

¶9

1 UNION OF INDIA REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS, NORTH BLOCK NEW DELHI, PIN - 110001 2 REGISTRAR OF COMPANIES (KERALA) COMPANY LAW BHAVAN, THRIKKAKARA, COCHIN, PIN - 682021 3 REGISTRAR OF COMPANIES CENTRAL REGISTRATION CENTRE, INDIAN INSTITUTE OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS, IMT MANESAR, GURGAON, HARYANA, PIN - 122050 BY ADV KARTHIK S.A., CGC

¶10

OTHER PRESENT:

¶11

DSGI S.MANU

¶12

THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON

¶13

06.10.2022, THE COURT ON 03.01.2023 DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

¶14

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶15

-2-

¶16

JUDGMENT

¶17

Dated this the 03^rd day of January, 2023

¶18

The petitioner is a businessman and the Director of two private limited companies; GG Management Solutions Private Limited and Bharath Integrated Solutions Private Limited. GG Management Solutions Private Limited was incorporated on 29.04.2010 with the name ‘GG

¶19

Resources Management Private Limited’, which was later changed as GG Management Solutions Private Limited. The name ‘GG Management Solution Private

¶20

Limited’ was chosen, since ‘GG’ is the abbreviation of petitioner’s name; Gireesh

¶21

Gangadharan. The petitioner intends to start a new company for conducting business in software designing, development, customization, implementation, maintenance, testing,

¶22

benchmarking, automation, developing, and dealing in computer software and solutions and to import,

¶23

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶24

-3-

¶25

export, sell, purchase, distribute, host and undertake IT-enabled services, customer support, database management, data science, data processing and providing information and statistics to enhance customer experience of products. Being desirous of including the abbreviation GG for the new company also, petitioner proposed the name ‘GG Net Solutions Private Limited’. The relevant provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 require every person intending to incorporate a company has to commence the registration process by reserving

¶26

the name of the company. The procedure for reservation is prescribed in the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014. As per the Rules,

¶27

the application for reservation has to be submitted through the web service available at www.mca.gov.in through the service, SPICE+ (Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically Plus: INC-32). SPICE +

¶28

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶29

-4-

¶30

is divided into two parts; SPICE+ Part A for name

¶31

reservation and SPICE+ Part B for entry of documents required for incorporation. Accordingly, the petitioner submitted Ext.P3 application along with requisite documents. To the petitioner’s dismay, the application was rejected stating that the proposed name contained the word ‘GG’, which is a registered trademark and therefore, undesirable as per Rule 8A(1)(b) of the Companies (Incorporation) 5th Amendment Rules, 2019. The rejection of petitioner’s application was communicated under Ext.P4. Aggrieved, this writ petition is filed seeking the following reliefs;

¶32

“i. issue a writ of certiorari calling for the records leading to Exhibit P-4 and quash the same;

¶33

ii. issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order, or direction directing the respondents to consider and approve SPICE+ Part A application to be submitted by the petitioner for reserving the

¶34

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶35

-5-

¶36

name 'GG Net Solutions Private Limited'

¶37

iii, issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order declaring that 'GG Net solutions Private Limited' cannot be compared to registered device mark 'GG' as shown in Table – I.”

¶38

Adv.Lakshmi Sreedhar, learned Counsel for the petitioner, contended that the rejection is per se illegal. The following submissions were

¶39

made in In elaboration of the contention;

¶40

As per Section 4(2) of the Companies Act, the name stated in the Memorandum of Association of the Company shall not be such that its use by the Company is undesirable in the opinion of the Central Government. Going by Rule 8A of the Companies (Incorporation) Rules, 2014, the name shall be considered undesirable if (a) it is prohibited under the provisions of section 3 of the Emblems and Names (Prevention and Improper

¶41

Use) Act, 1950 (12 of 1950), (b) the name includes a trade mark registered under the Trade

¶42

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶43

-6-

¶44

Marks Act, 1999 in the same class of goods or services in which the activity of the company is being carried out or is proposed to be carried out (c) the name includes any word or words which are offensive to any section of the people and (d) the proposed name is identical with, or too nearly resembles, the name of a limited liability partnership. Thus, the proposed name will be undesirable if the name includes the trademark registered under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and is in the same class of goods in which the activity of the Company is being carried out or it proposed to be carried out. It is contended that since the object of the proposed company and that of the registered trademark holder being entirely different, the finding that the proposed name is undesirable cannot be sustained. Further, ‘GG’ is the registered device trade mark and not a word mark and cannot therefore be an impediment in registering a new company. Finally, it is

¶45

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶46

-7-

¶47

contended that a large number of companies containing the name ‘GG’ were incorporated without objection. In support of this contention, attention is drawn to Table II in paragraph 10 of the writ petition;

¶48

TABLE - II

¶49

	LLP/COMPANY NAME	STATE	DATE
1	GG ACCOUNTING AND	Karnataka	29/04/2019
	BUSINESS SOLUTIONS INDIA
	PRIVATE LIMITED
2	GG AGENCIES PRIVATE	Uttar	22/03/1999
	LIMITED	Pradesh
3	GG AGRIPURE FOODS	Punjab	14/03/2019
	PRIVATE LIMITED
4	GG ARC EXCEL CONSULTANTS LLP	Maharashtra	06/07/17
5	GG BAY OF HOSPITALITY	Tamil Nadu	23/02/2017
	AND SERVICES PRIVATE
	LIMITED COURT
6	GG BEAUTY AND BOUTIQUE	Tamil Nadu	19/02/2016
	PRIVATE LIMITED
7	GG BROTHERS LLP	Tamil Nadu	01/06/18
8	GG CAPITAL MANAGEMENT	Maharashtra	15/02/2021
	LLP
9	GG CAREER CONSULTANTS	Maharashtra	21/05/2002

¶50

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶51

-8-

¶52

	PRIVATE LIMITED
10	GG CHEMICALS AND PHARMACEUTICALS	Chandigarh	04/06/22
11	GG CONSULTING LLP	Telangana	30/11/2018
12	GG CUISINE PRIVATE	Maharashtra	23/04/2015
	LIMITED GG DAIRY INDIA LIMITED
13	GG DIARY INDIA LIMITED	Punjab	30/05/2003
14	GG DOJO (OPC) PRIVATE LIMITED	West Bengal	05/04/21
15	GG EATOUTS RESTO PRIVATE LIMITED	Maharashtra	04/01/22
16	GG EDUCATION CONSULTING PRIVATE LIMITED	Tamil Nadu	27/08/2013
17	GG ENERGYON INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED	Tamil Nadu	06/12/13
18	GG ENTERPRISES PRIVATE LIMITED	Uttar Pradesh	12/02/21
19	GG ENTERTAINMENT PRIVATE LIMITED	Maharashtra	26/04/2019
20	GG ESPORTS VENTURES PRIVATE LIMITED	Haryana	23/09/2020
21	GG EXIM PRIVATE LIMITED	Delhi	20/10/2004
22	GG FIRE ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY PRIVATE LIMITED	Maharashtra	29/09/2017
23	GG FITNESS PRIVATE	Haryana	07/06/21

¶53

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶54

-9-

¶55

	LIMITED
24	GG FOOD FIESTAA PRIVATE LIMITED	Tamil Nadu	29/01/2016
25	GG GLOBAL ADVISORS LLP	Maharashtra	05/07/16
26	GG GROUP PRIVATE LIMITED	Gujarat	04/06/18
27	GG HEALTH STONE PRIVATE LIMITED	Maharashtra	22/05/2019
28	GG ICU LLP	Andhra Pradesh	01/10/16
29	GG INFRA PRIVATE LIMITED	Madhya Pradesh	30/08/2006
30	GG INFRA PROJECTS PRIVATE LIMITED	Uttar Pradesh	25/11/2020
31	GG KNIT FAB PRIVATE LIMITED	West Bengal	15/10/2009
32	GG LANDSCAPERS AND SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED	Assam	23/09/2019
33	GG MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED	Kerala	29/04/2010
34	GG MARITIME IT PRIVATE LIMITED	Tamil Nadu	24/08/2011
35	GG METROPOLIS PRIVATE LIMITED	Maharashtra	03/10/20
36	GG NURSING HOME PRIVATE	Madhya	14/10/2020
	LIMITED	Pradesh
37	GG OFFICE PARK LLP	Maharashtra	10/02/21

¶56

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶57

-10-

¶58

38	GG ONLINE LIMITED	PRIVATE	Karnataka	08/07/19
39	GG ORGANICS CARE LIMITED	PRIVATE	Tamil Nadu	11/07/16
40	GG ORGANICS IT PRIVATE LIMITED	SERVICES	Tamil Nadu	15/04/2015
41	GG OVERSEAS	PRIVATE	Delhi	21/02/2013
	LIMITED
42	GG PARIVAAR LIMITED	HOLDING	Tamil Nadu	19/04/2022
43	GG PLAST PRIVATE	LIMITED	Orissa	16/12/2020
44	GG POLYPLAST LIMITED	PRIVATE	Rajasthan	24/05/2004
45	GG PRO RETAIL	PRIVATE	Delhi	16/04/2020
	LIMITED
46	GG PROTECH LIMITED	PRIVATE	Maharashtra	12/07/21
47	GG REALCON PRIVATE LIMITED	SERVICES	Delhi	29/11/1984
48	GG RELATIONSHIP		Maharashtra	03/05/17
49	GG RECREATION	PRIVATE	Delhi	13/09/2010
	LIMITED
50	GG RS LEARNI	NG HUB	Maharashtra	16/08/2016
	PRIVATE LIMITED
51	GG SHELTERS	PRIVATE	Uttar	04/07/12
	LIMITED		Pradesh
52	GG SOFTWARES LIMITED	PRIVATE	Andhra Pradesh	29/04/2016

¶59

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶60

-11-

¶61

53	GG SPICES (OPC) PRIVATE LIMITED	Rajasthan	13/10/2021
54	GG STAFFING SOLUTION AND CONSULTING PRIVATE LIMITED	Delhi	29/12/2015
55	GG STORE (OPC) PRIVATE LIMITED	Delhi	17/10/2018
56	GG STRUCTURE LLP	Maharashtra	02/01/18
57	OUR GG SUNTRONIX PRIVATE LIMITED	Rajasthan	30/11/2006
58	GG TOBACCO PRIVATE LIMITED	Delhi	02/05/06
59	GG TRANSLOGIC PRIVATE LIMITED	Tamil Nadu	22/11/2016
60	GG TRANSPORTS AND	Tamil Nadu	24/04/2015
	LOGISTICS PRIVATE LIMITED (OPC)
61	GG TYRES AND TUBES	Telangana	21/09/2004
	PRIVATE LIMITED
62	GG WASTE CONVERSIONS	Karnataka	07/10/19
	(OPC) PRIVATE LIMITED
63	GG WASTECH PRIVATE	Chattisgarh	02/02/21
	LIMITED
64	GG WELLNESS RETREATT	Tamil Nadu	09/01/21
	PRIVATE LIMITED
65	GG WELLS TECHNOLOGIES	Kerala	05/11/19
	PRIVATE LIMITED

¶62

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶63

-12-

¶64

Learned CGC countered the challenge by putting forth the following contentions;

¶65

The word mark GG is registered with Shri. Ravi Giani, sole proprietor of the trading firm, M/s Giani under Class 42 with application No. 4236276 w.e.f. 28.09.2020. The Goods and service description of that company are;

¶66

“ Interior Design Service, Research and Development of new products for others, Design services; Planning and design of kitchens; New product design, Material Testing; Quality Control, surveying, Hosting Computer sites (websites); Providing search engines for the internet, Hosting web portals; Hosting e- commerce platforms on the Internet, Computer Programming, software as a service (SaaS); Server Hosting; Industrial Analyses and Research Services; Advisory services relating to Interior design."

¶67

As per the fourth schedule of the Trademarks Rules 2002, Class 42 includes the following

¶68

activities under the head “Services”;

¶69

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶70

“Class 42 Scientific and technological services and research and design relating thereto; industrial analysis and research services; design and development of Computer hardware and Software.”

¶71

As the objects of the petitioner’s proposed

¶72

company was found to be similar to that of the registered trademark and falling under the same class, the application was rejected for the following reasons;

¶73

“ (a) The Objectives proposed by the petitioner (designing and development of software etc) are found related to Class 42 of the Trademark;

¶74

(b) As per site of the Registrar of Trademark, the Trademark holder have registered Word Mark "GG" under Class 42 and the description of the Trademark includes amongst others. activities relates to Computer Programming, etc which comes under Software development.

¶75

(c) The petitioner failed to produce NOC from the Registered Trademark Holder. Even the Petitioner did not explain how the objectives proposed by

¶76

him are different from "Goods & Services

¶77

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶78

-14-

¶79

Description" given in the site of Registered Trademark with Application No. 4236276.”

¶80

Finally it is submitted that the petitioner’s failure to explain as to how the objectives of the proposed company are different from the registered trademark, had compelled the authority to reject the application. It is submitted that, instead of rushing to this Court, the petitioner ought to have submitted a fresh e-form along with requisite documents and reply to the

¶81

clarification. In such an event, the application would have been considered on merits.

¶82

There appears to be prima facie merit in the submission that the petitioner's application for reservation of name for his proposed company can be rejected only if name includes a trade mark registered in the same class of goods and services in which the activity of the company is proposed to be carried out. Even then, the

¶83

respondent having made it clear that the

¶84

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶85

-15-

¶86

petitioner is at liberty to file a fresh e-form along with clarification, this court need not consider and decide upon the legality of Ext.P4. Needless to say that the competent authority will have to decide whether Class 42, under which the trademark GG is registered, takes in the class of goods and services proposed to be carried out by the petitioner’s company. The respondents will

¶87

also have to deal with the petitioner’s contention that several other companies were permitted to be incorporated with names containing GG. Going by the table extracted above, at least some of the companies were incorporated after the trademark GG was registered. Yet another pertinent aspect is the petitioner’s existing company, GG Management Solution Private Limited, was incorporated in the year 2010 and the present name given in the year 2016, much prior to the registration of the trademark.

¶88

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶89

-16-

¶90

The writ petition is accordingly disposed of,

¶91

directing the third respondent to reconsider Ext.

¶92

P3 application and pass fresh orders, uninfluenced by the earlier rejection. To effectuate proper consideration, the petitioner shall be afforded an opportunity to submit fresh documents and written explanation. The order, as directed above, shall be passed within three

¶93

months of receipt of a copy of the judgment.

Sd/-

V.G.ARUN JUDGE

Scl/

W.P.(C) No.21670 of 2022

¶98

-17-

¶99

APPENDIX OF WP(C) 21670/2022

¶100

PETITIONER EXHIB	ITS
Exhibit1	TRUE COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION OF GG MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD. DATED 28/03/2016
Exhibit P-2	TRUE COPY OF THE MASTER DATA OF GG MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD.
Exhibit P-3	TRUE COPY OF THE SPICE+ PART A APPLICATION SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER DATED 7/06/2022
Exhibit P-4	TRUE COPY OF THE COMMUNICATION OF REJECTION DATED 10/06/2022 SENT BY THE SECOND RESPONDENT
Exhibit P-4(a)	DETAILS OF THE REJECTION FORWARDED BY THE THIRD RESPONDENT DATED NIL
Exhibit P-5	TRUE COPY OF THE MASTER DATA OF GG ONLINE PRIVATE LIMITED DATED NIL
Exhibit P-6	TRUE COPY OF THE MASTER DATA OF GG ENTERPRISES PRIVATE LIMITED DATED NIL
Exhibit P-7	TRUE COPY OF THE MASTER DATA OF GG NURSING HOME PRIVATE LIMITED DATED NIL

Gireesh Gangadharan v. Union of India

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Gireesh Gangadharan v. Union of India

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

Statutes considered

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

Similar cases

T v Janardhanan Vs Assistant Executive Engineer

Shajeer Vs the State of Kerala

P.Hyder Ali Vs the Additional District Magistrate

Resmi Krishna.R.S. Vs Director of General Education

Dr.Jayapradeep, Vs the State of Kerala

Uralungal Labour Contract Co-Operative Society Ltd. No. 10957 Vs State of Kerala