Weizmann to move court against Western Union on trademark, logo issue

Mumbai-based Weizmann, part of a diversified group, will take to court its former partner Western Union Holdings, the American money-transfer giant, alleging that the United States-based company has imitated its trademark and logo.

This, its lawyers say, constitutes a case of infringement and dilution of its intellectual-property rights.

It is planning to initiate legal proceedings under Indian law and seek damages.

According to Weizmann’s lawyers, the company adopted the brand “W” in a bona fide manner as an iteration of the first letter of the corporate name, which dates back to 1985. Various variations of it were also registered.

The company has used the brand for promoting, marketing, advertising its products and services under the trademark and has earned goodwill, especially in the financial sector.

However, the lawyers say its client recently learned Western Union Holdings had applied for a similar mark in the Delhi registry and it was being used in advertising and social-media pages, among other things.

In court Weizmann will seek Western Union cease and desist from both physical and online usage of the trademark, withdraw the application made for the registry in Delhi, destroy all merchandise or articles bearing the same or identical marks, and remove references to the marks in its websites, apps, and emails, among other things.

Confirming the development, a spokesperson for the Weizmann group, with interests in textile processing, fintech, and renewable energy, said: “Our company is committed to safeguarding its trademark rights.

"We have almost completed gathering all essential information and will initiate class action/legal proceedings.”

Responding to the proposed legal proceedings, a spokesperson for Western Union said: “At this time, we do not have any comments to provide.”

The move by Weizmann comes after the company had sent legal notice through legal-consultancy firm Arthur & Angel on December 13 last year, asking Western Union Holdings to “cease and desist” in using the trademarks, respond to its letter in 15 days to come to a settlement, or face legal action. However, no understanding has been reached.

In the early 1990s Weizmann got into the money-changing business with registration from the Reserve Bank of India.

In 1997 it tied up with Western Union Money Transfer Services for carrying out inbound money transfer as an authorised dealer and acquired over 1,700 franchisees involved in the Western Union Money transfer business in 2006.

Over the years the company had more than 60,000 sub-agents catering to Western Union’s transfer business.

That included 100 owned outlets in over 650 districts.

In 2019, the group transferred its stake in Weizmann Forex to the Ebix group, a Nasdaq-listed entity, and cash out of the business.