Audi's 'inner' woes

‘Zindagi is Good’ says the tag line of the TT brand of innerwear. Sadly, all things aren’t good for the luxury carmaker, Audi, due to this Indian innerwear brand. The TT brand of innerwear has won an ex-parte order from the Delhi high court confirming its rights to the trademark 'TT'.

The innerwear brand had appealed to the Delhi High Court that it is a well-known merchandise brand in several countries since 1964, thereby challenging the trademark registration of the Audi TT Coupe in India. The luxury carmaker also sells merchandise under the TT badge in its showroom which has also come under the trademark registration dispute now.

Commenting on this trademark dispute, Rishabh Chand Jain, Founder of TT, stated that he is sure that Audi had no bad intentions and it must have been an honest mistake. Jain, however, feels that the luxury carmaker cannot use the letters TT, either as a suffix or a prefix as they make leather goods, toys and merchandise out of the TT brand name that does not sit well with the company. TT innerwear’s trademark was registered in 1968 and hence the company sent a High Court letter to the German carmaker and its Indian addresses. The founder of the innerwear company further stated that there has been no response from Audi yet.

Currently, Audi cannot sell the TT branded merchandise here in India unless the court decides on the stay. It is uncertain as of now if Audi can sell the TT Coupe in India or not.