Chennai: The Madras High Court has ruled that both Kerala and Karnataka are entitled to equal rights to use the trademark acronym KSRTC for their respective government bus services. The court’s decision comes in response to a petition filed by Kerala, seeking exclusive rights to the name KSRTC for its state.
The High Court’s order clarified that the longstanding use of the name cannot be a sole basis for granting exclusive rights to either state.
The acronym KSRTC represents the government bus services in Kerala and Karnataka. The public transport system in Kerala was initiated by the royal family of Travancore in 1937, adopting the acronym KSRTC. In 1973, Karnataka also adopted the same acronym for its government buses.
Currently, both Kerala and Karnataka operate their government bus services under the names Kerala State Road Transport Corporation and Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, respectively. The confusion arising from the shared acronym prompted Kerala to file a petition, arguing that it was causing hardships for the people.
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