In a legal battle that has been spanning over seven years, Kerala has legally acquired its rights to use the world KSRTC for its government-owned bus service. The verdict from Trade Mark Registry, based on the Intellectual Property Rights Act (IPR) comes as a real shocker for Karnataka, as the state will not be allowed to use the acronym KSRTC (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation) from now.
Kerala wins legal battle
The legal triumph of Kerala is expected to give KSRTC the much-needed relief as the board has been facing severe financial issues for the past few years.
Even though the legal battle between Kerala and Karnataka over KSRTC began in 2013, it got heated up when Kerala authorities filed an objection against Karnataka in the Intellectual Property Appellate Board over the use of the abbreviation KSRTC, reports 24 News Malayalam.
According to the recent verdict, it has become clear that Kerala is the sole owner of the abbreviation KSRTC, the logo, and the popular nickname of the bus service 'Aanavandi'.
KSRTC chairman and managing director Biju Prabhakar revealed that they will soon send a notice to Karnataka RTC asking them not to use the acronym KSRTC anymore. According to sources, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation informed the appellate board that the state started its services in 1965 whereas Karnataka SRTC commenced services only by 1974.
