The Atlanta Court has dismissed a petition filed by Osram Sylvania Inc (OSI) against Havells India and other eight entities of Havells over copyright infringement. OSI, part of Siemens AG Group, had sued Havells India in the US district court for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta division for infringement of its popular trademark Sylvania and unfair competition in North America. Both companies are parties to a 1992 agreement, as they jointly own the famous Sylvania trademark for lighting products.
Though Sylvania is a registered mark of Flowil in China, Osram had been manufacturing Sylvania products in China through third parties. In order to check such infringement activities, the Chinese custom officials, under the relevant Chinese customs law and trademark law, had detained Osram?s North America bound Sylvania shipments in April 2011. Osram sought refuge under the US laws and filed the complaint before the district court, which was dismissed.
The court has now dismissed the complaint against all the respondents except for Havells USA on jurisdictional grounds. The Atlanta Court observed that it lacks personal jurisdiction over the respondents Havells India and over Flowil. The court further observed that Osram provided no independent basis for jurisdiction over the respondents other than Havells USA.