Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group today failed to get any legal reprieve from the Delhi High Court on its plea to stop Greenpeace International from hoisting its online game ‘Turtle vs TATA’ which shows a Tata logo scaring away a turtle.
Refusing to pass any interim order on the Tata Son's plea, seeking damages worth Rs 10 crore for allegedly misusing Tata's logo in the online game and exhibiting it in a manner "defamatory" to the business house, Justice S Ravindra Bhat said no order needs to be passed at this juncture.
Justice Bhat said no interim injunction should be granted because this will stifle freedom of speech.
Tata has, in its petition, also contended the online game was also an infringement of its trade mark.
The court also said that at this stage it is wrong to attribute malafide to Greenpeace since the organisation has been consistently opposed to the Tata’s Dhamra port project in Orissa, which allegedly threatens the sensitive ecosystem and the endangered Olive Ridley turtles.
The court also rejected the Tata's allegation of trade mark infringement for the time being saying there is no such violation because the company's logo has been used in a non- commercial context.
Greenpeace, through its advocate Sai Krishna, has opposed the plea of the Tata seeking damages for alleged defamation and infringement of its trade mark by the Greenpeace in the online game.
In the online game of Greenpeace, Tata's logo has been shown chasing a turtle. The game allegedly depicted the turtle running away from the logo of the company.
The game was launched in 2010 to spread awareness about the threat which the TATA’s Dhamra port in Orissa allegedly poses to a sensitive ecosystem as well as the Olive Ridley Turtles, the Greenpeace contended.
