Bombay High Court stops three financial firms from using ‘Fedex’ name

The Bombay High Court has ordered three financial companies to stop using the word ‘Fedex’ in their names, saying it infringes the trademark of global courier company Federal Express Corporation. 

A single-Bench judge, Justice R.I. Chagla, passed the order on December 11, and said FedEx had shown a strong case and would suffer harm if the companies continued using the name. 

“The Plaintiff has been able to make out a strong prima facie case for grant of interim relief. The balance of convenience is also in favour of the Plaintiff,” Justice Chagla observed. 

The case was filed by Federal Express Corporation against Fedex Securities Pvt Ltd, Fedex Stock Broking Ltd, and Fedex Finance Pvt Ltd. The application was reserved on July 25, 2025. 

The order restrains the companies from using ‘Fedex’ in any form: company name, trademark, website, email address or applying for registration of similar names until the case is finally decided. It also bars them from passing off their services as those of FedEx. 

The defendants argued that they had been using the name since 1996 and that their business, financial services, is completely different from FedEx’s courier and cargo operations. They claimed the name came from “Federal Executives” because their founders worked at Federal Bank. 

The court rejected this explanation, calling it “an afterthought and implausible.” It noted that only one director had any link to Federal Bank and that the reason was never mentioned in official documents when the names were changed. 

“Fedex could not have been conceived by the Defendants to denote former executives of Federal Bank,” the judge said. 

The court also dismissed the argument that old law protects the companies’ continued use under Section 159(5) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. 

“Section 159(5) has no application to the present suit… Any use by the Defendants after registration of the Plaintiff’s mark in Class 36 amounts to infringement,” the order said. 

The court pointed out that FedEx’s trademark is registered in India and officially declared a well-known mark by the Trade Marks Registry in February 2024. Adding the word “Securities” does not make the name different, the judge said, citing a Supreme Court ruling, “The word ‘Securities’ is not distinctive at all and the addition thereof does not make any difference.” 

Senior counsel Dr. Veerendra Tulzapurkar, appearing for FedEx, argued that the defendants’ adoption was dishonest and likely to cause confusion. 

“They are trying to show connection with the Plaintiff and trade upon its reputation,” he said, adding that FedEx has built a strong reputation and its mark has become a household name in India. 

Advocate Alankar Kirpekar, for the defendants, said the companies had been using the name honestly for nearly 30 years and there was no instance of confusion. He argued that the balance of convenience was in their favour and that FedEx had no goodwill in India when the names were adopted.