JUDGMENT :

Pushpa Sathyanarayana, J. –

1. The prayer in the writ petition is to direct the first respondent, the appropriate authority to receive the petitioner's renewal application dated 15.12.2015 for renewing the Trade Mark "TAJMAHAL" Indian Pappad registered under No.1077334 in Class 30 and renew the same in accordance with due process of law.

2. The petitioner firm is engaged in the business of manufacturing, marketing and exporting pappads and had adopted the trade mark 'TAJMAHAL' for their products. The said trade mark has been used by them continuously and extensively from 01.04.1970 and had attained a high reputation and turnover. The petitioner's trade mark TAJMAHAL was advertised in the Trade Mark Journal dated 16.08.1982. However, it was not renewed and the same lapsed. Later, after the petitioner took over the firm from his mother in 1985 and became the sole proprietor of the firm, he changed the design of the label and applied for registration of the changed trade mark TAJMAHAL Indian Pappad on 01.02.2002 by Application No.1077334 in class 30 for the revised label TAJMAHAL claiming to be using the same from 01.04.1985. The same was accepted and published in the Trade