Belagavi court issues fresh summons to Anthropic PBC after US company fails to appear in trademark suit

A commercial court in Belagavi on Monday issued fresh summons to representatives of American artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic in connection with a trademark suit filed by a Karnataka-based company over the mark “ANTHROPIC" [Anthropic Softwares v. Anthropic PBC]..Principal District and Sessions Judge Manjunath Nayak had previously issued summons to the company, but its representatives failed to appear before the Court on February 16 as ordered. Fresh summons was ordered to be issued to the officers of the company at its newly opened Bengaluru office. .The suit was filed by Belagavi-based Anthropic Softwares Private Limited alleging passing off and trademark violation. The company sought a temporary injunction restraining the US company from directly or indirectly passing itself off as being associated with it by using the mark “Anthropic” or any other identical or deceptively similar mark.It claimed that it has been using the name "Anthropic" since 2017 and that it has come to acquire significant goodwill over the years in the Indian subcontinent. The company said that on AI-based platforms and standard Google search the results, the US company's name is prominently suggested in place of its name. "As a consequence, the Plaintiff's name has been completely removed or displaced from search suggestions and related results. This has resulted in confusion among users, customers, and stakeholders, who are being misled into believing that the [US company] is associated with, or has replaced, the [Indian company]," it was argued. The Indian company relied on a newspaper report stating that the American entity was opening its first office in India and on a website announcement stating that it would commence operations in Bengaluru in early 2026..On January 17, 2026, the Court had passed an order permitting the suit to be filed without mandatory pre-institution mediation since urgent interim relief had been sought.However, the Court declined to grant an ex parte injunction observing that apart from the two publications, there was no material to show that the defendant had commenced operations in India using the plaintiff’s registered mark. The Court also noted that the defendant’s address in the cause title was shown as San Francisco, indicating that no Indian establishment had yet been set up. This indicated lack of any imminent threat of infringement, the Court said, as it declined to issue an ex parte temporary injunction.However, it issued notice on the interim application and summons to the US company. No representatives for the company turned up for the hearing on Monday, leading to the issuance of fresh summons. The Court noted that the US company had opened an office in Bengaluru and ordered that the summons be sent to the Bengaluru address. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.