Court “Advises” Greenpeace to Stop Using Tata Logo
18 October 2012
A free video game on the Greenpeace India website has landed the environmental group on the receiving end of a suit for trademark infringement brought by Tata Sons.
The game, modelled after Pac Man and called Turtle v Tata, lets the player take on the role of a sea turtle, which Greenpeace says is endangered by Tata’s Dhamra port. The games instructions tell players that “Tata’s Dhamra port could be the beginning of the end for Gahirmatha’s turtles. Your objective is simple – get the turtles to eat as many of the white dots – jellyfish and other sea creatures – while dodging the Tata demons! If you eat a power pill, you will be gifted with super-turtle powers to vanquish the demons of development that are threatening your coastal home!”
The Delhi High Court advised Greenpeace to remove the logo – which forms the basis for the “Tata demons,” with added eyes – but noted that “it is only a suggestions and not a direction. We are not directing you to stop using the name, but you can consider not using the logo.”
Lawyers at RK Dewan & Co, writing in the firm’s newsletter, called Greenpeace’s use of the logo “a clear case of trademark infringement.”
