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Mahindra in a statement on December 7 it has decided to contest brand rights of BE 6e in court and meanwhile, name its Electric Origin SUV “BE 6.”
“We are hence taking the decision to brand our product the “BE 6”. We however do believe the claim by IndiGo is baseless and if not challenged, will set an unhealthy precedent of monopolizing alpha-numeric 2-character marks, despite our mark being distinctive and different. This will be enormously constraining for all companies across industries and sectors. We will thus continue to strongly contest this in court and reserve our right to the brand name BE 6e,” Mahindra said in its statement.
Mahindra’s statement comes days after the carmaker revealed its electric origin SUVs the BE 6e and XEV 9e on November 26, 2024.
The statement explained the firm has applied for trademark registration under class 12 (vehicles) for ‘BE 6e’ as a part of its electric origin SUV portfolio. The mark ‘BE’ is already registered with Mahindra in Class 12, and it stands for Mahindra’s ‘born electric’ platform underpinning the BE 6e.
InterGlobe Aviation has raised concerns with Mahindra using the name 6E as “6E” is the airline’s flight code. Mahindra, however, has clarified that its mark is ‘BE 6e’ not the standalone “6E.”
Nonetheless, IndiGo on December 3 initiated a trademark infringement case against Mahindra Electric Automobile Limited in the Delhi High Court. IndiGo contends that the use of the “6E” name by Mahindra infringes upon its registered trademark rights, which it claims have been in use for years.
In its latest statement, Mahindra said, “We believe it differs fundamentally from IndiGo’s “6E,” which represents an airline, eliminating any risk of confusion. The distinct styling further emphasises its uniqueness. Our registration application is for an entirely different industry sector and product and hence do not see any conflict.”
The carmaker went on to describe a previous instance when Tata Motors had objected to InterGlobe using the IndiGo mark, given the Tata Indigo car brand. Regardless of that, InterGlobe continues to use the mark IndiGo in a different industry and business.
“We therefore find their objection to BE 6e to be inconsistent with their own previous conduct,” Mahindra said.
Mahindra added that it finds it unseemly that two large Indian multinationals should engage in a distracting and unnecessary conflict when they should actually be championing each other’s growth and expansion.
