The Delhi High Court has issued an interim injunction restraining a Patna-based real estate company from using the “Nintendo” brand name, ruling that the trade name is deceptively similar to that of Japanese video game corporation Nintendo Co Ltd and presents a significant risk of public confusion.
Justice Jyoti Singh ordered Nintendo India Private Limited to comply with the directive within two weeks. The court determined that the Kyoto-based gaming company established a strong prima facie case under Section 29(4) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, which safeguards well-known registered trademarks against unauthorized commercial use, even across unrelated industry sectors.
Dispute Origin and Legal Action
The legal conflict began after Nintendo Co Ltd discovered in 2025 that an Indian entity had incorporated under the name Nintendo India Private Limited. A corporate investigation established that the Bihar-registered firm operated in real estate, maintained no active website, and had not submitted trademark applications for the Nintendo mark.
Nintendo Co Ltd issued a cease-and-desist notice on February 17, 2026, requesting that the Indian enterprise discontinue using the designation. Following a lack of response, the developer behind franchises such as Super Mario Bros, Pokémon, Donkey Kong, and the Nintendo Switch hardware platform filed a trademark infringement action in the Delhi High Court.
Court Findings and Defense Position
During the hearing, legal counsel Pravin Anand, representing Nintendo Co Ltd, submitted that a female director of the Indian company had acknowledged in an email that the business had never conducted operations using the trade name and had no future intention to do so. The director also indicated consent to a permanent injunction against herself. As other representatives of the firm failed to appear, Nintendo requested the court to consider its application for interim relief ex-parte.
In the July 29 ruling, Justice Singh observed that “Nintendo” is an invented term that the Japanese firm has continuously used as a registered trademark since 1889. Finding that the balance of convenience favoured Nintendo Co Ltd and that the company risked irreparable injury without immediate intervention, the court barred the Patna company and its agents from using the name “Nintendo India Pvt Ltd” or the Nintendo mark until the upcoming hearing.
