In an interesting development that caught my eye (coincidentally after reading Shravya’s post here on Mediation in IP), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has filed a suit against Dharma Production for using the MSF trademark in a scene of the movie Jigra. MSF, commonly also known as Doctors without Borders, is involved in humanitarian medical care and has long been an advocate for ‘access to medicines’. Interestingly, in October this year Adar Poonawalla (CEO of the Serum Institute of India) acquired a 50% stake in Dharma Production.
The movie is about the jailbreak of a convict who is wrongfully imprisoned in a foreign country and sentenced to death and how his sister gets him out. In the alleged scene, as reported in Bar and Bench, prisoners disguise themselves as MSF representatives to illegally enter Malaysian waters. The report also stated that MSF had argued that the scene affected its credibility, creating an impression of undertaking illegal activities by impersonating an MSF representative. The Delhi High Court has referred the parties to mediation.
My curious self tried to check the movie scene. For interested readers, in the movie (available on Netflix) at 2:17:13, the lead actress (played by Alia Bhatt), while escaping towards international waters makes a distress call identifying her team of escaped prisoners as – “We are doctors without borders. Medics without frontiers.” The scene doesn’t seem to use MSF’s logo. So, does this scene trigger a passing off claim? Also, this isn’t just another background scene in the movie but a central part of the plot where it seems owing to their ‘Doctors without Borders’ association, they are allowed entry in Malaysian waters. Will this be a nominative fair use?
Interestingly, the scene doesn’t use Médecins Sans Frontières but rather uses “Medics without Frontiers”, but it does use MSF’s English translation “Doctors without Borders”. On searching for the registered trademark of MSF, I came across this document with a lot of history of its trademark and name. I also found that the ‘Doctors without Borders’ trademark is registered by MSF in India. (See screenshot below from the TM Registry Website).
Given that the Court has now directed the parties for mediation, I don’t think there will be any judicial response on the matter and a settlement is most likely.
The order for the matter has not been uploaded yet. If any of our readers find it, please do share it with us!