Supreme Court asks Matrimony.com, Jodi365 to explore settlement in ‘Jodii’ trademark dispute

The Supreme Court on Friday gave Matrimony.com and Jodi365 an opportunity to explore a settlement in their trademark dispute over the former's use of the brand name ‘Jodii’. 

A bench comprising Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe expressed its disinclination to interfere with a Madras High Court judgment restraining Matrimony.com from using ‘Jodii’ for its matchmaking app, according to Bar & Bench. Instead of dismissing Matrimony.com’s plea, however, the court agreed to keep it pending while the two companies discuss a possible settlement. 

During the hearing, Matrimony.com offered to rename the app ‘Jodi Matrimony’, arguing that an abrupt shutdown would affect its business and existing users. The bench asked the two sides to discuss the proposal and indicated that it would take up the matter again if they were unable to reach an agreement. The development comes after Matrimony.com challenged an August 11 ruling of the Madras High Court that barred it from using ‘Jodii’ or any other mark found to be deceptively similar to Jodi365.

How the dispute began

The dispute dates back to October 2021, when Matrimony.com launched Jodii, a matchmaking app aimed at users across multiple Indian languages. FreeElective Network Pvt Ltd, which operates matchmaking platform Jodi365, subsequently issued a cease-and-desist notice and filed a trademark infringement and passing-off suit against Matrimony.com at the Madras High Court. 

FreeElective argued that it had been using the Jodi365 brand since 2009 and had registered it as a composite device mark in 2010. It alleged that Matrimony.com’s use of the phonetically similar ‘Jodii’ for matchmaking services was likely to confuse users. Matrimony.com, however, argued that FreeElective’s registration covered the composite ‘Jodi365’ mark and did not give it exclusive rights over the word ‘Jodi’. The company maintained that ‘Jodi’, meaning a couple or pair in several Indian languages, is descriptive of matchmaking services and is widely used in the sector. 

A single judge of the Madras High Court dismissed FreeElective’s suit in July 2022, holding that while the Jodi365 mark had acquired distinctiveness, the word ‘Jodi’ itself remained descriptive and non-distinctive. That decision was overturned earlier this month by a Division Bench of Justices P Velmurugan and K Govindarajan Thilakavadi. The Division Bench restrained Matrimony.com from using ‘Jodii’ or other deceptively similar marks and directed it to surrender material bearing the infringing mark for destruction. Matrimony.com subsequently approached the Supreme Court.

Matrimony.com offers compromise

Before the Supreme Court, Matrimony.com also argued that FreeElective did not hold a trademark registration under Class 45, which covers matrimonial and matchmaking services. Jodi365’s registrations covered Classes 35, 38 and 41, relating to advertising, telecommunications and education services, respectively. Matrimony.com also told the court that it would not press its pending application to register ‘Jodi’ as a standalone trademark.

FreeElective opposed Matrimony.com’s plea, pointing to its continuous use of Jodi365 since 2009 and instances of alleged consumer confusion placed before the High Court. The Supreme Court indicated that it was not inclined to interfere with the High Court ruling. Matrimony.com, however, argued that settlement discussions would become difficult if its appeal were dismissed at this stage. The court consequently kept the plea pending, giving both companies time to discuss Matrimony.com’s proposal to use the name ‘Jodi Matrimony’.