Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation secures legal ownership of its trademarks including the abbreviation KSRTC

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation has gained legal ownership of its trademarks, including the acronym KSRTC, after a protracted judicial battle for intellectual property rights.

The acronym KSRTC has been used by the SRTCs in Kerala and Karnataka for many years. Nonetheless, the acronym and logo were registered by Karnataka SRTC with the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks. Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) announced in a release on Friday that the Madras High Court had ruled that the use of the KSRTC abbreviation by the corporation was not legally prohibited. The court also invalidated Kerala SRTC's claim to the exclusive use of the KSRTC acronym.

"KSRTC had applied for the use of the 'KSRTC' acronym and was granted a Trade Mark Certificate. The Trade Mark Registry of the Government of India awarded Trade Mark Certificates to the corporation in 2013, with a user date of 1.11.1973. Copyright is also secured from the Registrar of Copy Rights, for the use of the "KSRTC" logo and "Gandabherunda art," according to KSRTC. 

The Kerala RTC also claims to have used the marks previously, having registered them in 2019. After the Central Government abolished the IPAB, the cases that were still pending before it was moved to the High Court of Madras in Chennai.

The case was brought before the Madras High Court on December 12; the Kerala SRTC's motion was denied, and Karnataka SRTC was found to be the winner. Following the rejection of the Kerala SRTC case, the Karnataka SRTC can now use the term "KSRTC" without facing any legal obstacles going forward, according to a KSRTC announcement.