SC Directs Telangana’s Princeton To Delink From US Varsity
The court directed that all the measures must be implemented before the commencement of admissions for the next academic year: Reports
HYDERABAD: The Supreme Court has directed six educational institutions in Telangana operating under the name ‘Princeton’ to prominently declare that they have no affiliation with Princeton University, New Jersey, USA.
Dealing with the Special Leave Petitions filed in the long-running trademark dispute between the Trustees of Princeton University and the Vagdevi Education Society and others, a two-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar and Justice K. Vinod Chandran directed the Telangana-based Princeton institutions to publish clear disclaimers on their websites, prospectuses, and all admission-related materials stating that they have no connection whatsoever with Princeton University, New Jersey of United States of America.
The court also ordered the institutions to publish quarter-page notices in Deccan Chronicle and a vernacular newspaper, both widely circulated in Telangana, clarifying the absence of any association with the US-based Princeton University. These notices must appear on alternate days between June 1 and 12 this year.
The disclaimer on websites, the Bench said, must appear in the largest font size used on the platform. The institutions must display prominent boards outside their campuses carrying the same disclaimer, and any certificates issued to students must contain the disclaimer in clear and bold lettering.
The court directed that all the measures must be implemented before the commencement of admissions for the next academic year.
The appeal was filed by the US-based Princeton University stating that the use of the Princeton name is causing mislead to the students. However, Vagdevi Educational Society argued that it has been using the impugned mark since 1991, and it has been running six educational institutions in the name of ‘Princeton’, and their presence was confined only to the state of Telangana.
Since the issue was pending before the Delhi High Court for a long time, the Supreme Court refrained from expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, noting that the underlying commercial suit remains pending before the Delhi High Court.
The Supreme Court, however, opined that Princeton University, an Ivy League institution in the United States, possesses substantial goodwill and reputation that warrant protection. The court noted that students could potentially be misled by the use of the “Princeton” name by unrelated educational institutions.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had held that Princeton University had established a prima facie case but allowed the Telangana institutions to continue using the “Princeton” name for existing institutions, while restraining them from adopting the mark for any new institutions during the pendency of the suit.