Amritdhara Pharmacy v. Satya Deo Gupta

Facts

• Plaintiff used "Amritdhara" for medicinal preparations since 1903
• Defendant applied to register "Lakshmandhara" for similar medicinal preparations
• Plaintiff opposed registration on grounds of deceptive similarity
• Both were Ayurvedic medicinal preparations with similar trade dress

Issue

1. Whether "Lakshmandhara" is deceptively similar to "Amritdhara" for medicinal preparations.

Held

• Yes, deceptively similar. The suffix "dhara" was common to both; when viewed as a whole with phonetic similarity, an average consumer with imperfect recollection would likely confuse the two. Registration of "Lakshmandhara" refused.

Ratio Decidendi

The test for deceptive similarity is: would a person of average intelligence and imperfect recollection, encountering the two marks, be likely to confuse one for the other? Marks must be compared as a whole (not letter by letter); the overall visual and phonetic impression matters. The comparison is between the marks as used in trade, considering the nature of goods, class of consumers, and mode of purchase.