Filed under: Hybrid, Etc., Government/Legal, Toyota, India



Prius is a Latin word which is roughly translates to "prior." Toyota picked the word for its hybrid car to indicate that it's a predecessor of cars to come. One thing the automaker should have done was register the Prius trademark worldwide. What happened instead was that an automotive company in India called Prius Auto Industries popped up and registered its own trademark six years before Toyota thought about it.

The court in New Delhi denied Toyota's request for exclusive rights to the Prius trademark, citing the long delay. Also dismissed by the court was Toyota's claim that having two automotive claims to the Prius name could confuse buyers into thinking that any parts with the Prius Auto Industries branding could be misconstrued as originating from Toyota. The high income group typical of the Toyota buyer in India puts that person in the position to understand what it is they're paying for.

[Source: The Hindu Busines Line]Report: Toyota denied exclusive rights to 'Prius' trademark originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Read More...