The court upheld the plaintiff's rights in the mark 'Harvard' under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and other relevant intellectual property laws.

G.S. SISTANI, J.

1. The plaintiff has filed the present suit for infringement and passing off of the mark ‘Harvard’ seeking a decree against the defendant restraining them from using the mark. The plaintiff is the ‘President & Fellows of Harvard College’ incorrectly mentioned as the ‘President & Fellows of Harv and College’.

2. Despite service, the written statement has not been filed within the statutory period. The matter as passed over once and called second time to enable the counsels to take instructions in the matter. Counsel for the defendant submits that the defendant has no objection if the present suit is decreed in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendant, provided the plaintiff gives up the relief of damages and costs.

3. As per the plaint, Harvard College, was established in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was named for its first benefactor, John Harvard of Charlestown, a young minister who, upon his death in 1638, left his library and half of estate to the new institution. Harvard’s first scholarship fund was created in 1643 with a gift from Ann Radcliffe, Lady Mowlson. During its early years, the College offered a classic academic course based on the English university model but consistent with the prevailing Puritan philosophy of the first colonists. Although many of its early graduates became ministers in Puritan congregations throughout New England, the College was never formally affiliated with a specific religious denomination.

4. Thereafter, on 09.06.1650, The Great and General Court of Massachusetts approved Harvard President Henry Dunster’s Charter of Incorporation. The Charter of 1965 established the “President and Fellows of Harvard College”, the plaintiff herein, a seven-member board that is the oldest Corporation in the Western Hemisphere. In 1708, John Leverett, who was not also a Clergiman, turned the Harvard College from Puritanism to intellectual independence. As the College grew in the 18th and 19th centuries, the curriculum was broadened and the College produced and attracted a long list of famous scholars, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the elder Oliver Wendell Holms and Louis Agassiz.

5. As per the plaint, US President Charles W. Elliot (1869-1909) transformed the small Provincial College into a modern University. During this period the Law and Medical Schools were revitalized and Graduate Schools were established in Business, Dentistry, Arts and Science. Enrollment rose from 1000 to 3000 students. Faculty grew from 49 to 278 and the Endowment increased from us $ 2.3 million to us $ 22.5 million. Harvard currently enrolls more than 18000 Degree Candidates from more than 100 nations of the world, including U.S.A., employing some 9000 Administrative and Support staff members and nearly 3000 full time Faculty members.

6. Harvard University celebrated its 350th anniversary in 1986 and is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Founded 16 years after the arrival of Pilgrims of Plymouth, the University has grown from nine students with a single master to an enrolment of more than 18,000 degree candidates, including undergraduates and students in 10 graduate and professional schools. An additional 13,000 students are enrolled in one or more courses in the Harvard Extension School. Over 14,000 people work at Harvard, including more than 2000 faculty. There are also 7,000 faculty appointments in affiliated teaching hospitals. Harvard’s property includes more than 380 acres of land and over 400 buildings in Cambridge, Allston and Boston.

7. As per the plaint, the plaintiff has a tremendous standing amongst the public; which is evidenced from the honourable position is students have gone on to hold. Seven Presidents of the United States, namely John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and George W. Bush were graduates of Harvard. Its facult