January,18,2016: The Khan Market Traders' Association sent a legal notice to Salman Khan over usage of the name 'Khan Market' in his online shopping portal khanmarketonline.com, which the actor launched on his birthday in December and are asking Salman Khan to change the name of his e-commerce portal.
The notice elaborates that the name 'Khan Market' has been with the traders for long and they have earned this goodwill over 65 years. "There will be confusion about the portal as it will suggest that it is being run by the traders of Khan Market or is endorsed and sponsored by them, which is not true," said a statement from the association.According to Sanjiv Mehra, president, Khan Market Traders' Association, "Online retail is eating into the offline retail market.
Site will affect traders in Khan Market. People will think that it's the Khan Market traders who are selling their things online, which will affect our business. There is no other Khan Market anywhere in India. This market has a brand name across Asia, and they (the portal) are trying to capitalize on it. There are many actors who visit our market, but we have never capitalized on their brand name."
According to the association, the Confederation of All India Traders had written a letter to Salman's team, asking for a change in the name of his portal, but there was no response. Then, on January 15, a legal notice was served to the actor, asking him to "withdraw the name Khan Market from your web portal, and to stop the unauthorized use of trade name Khan Market". This time, however, Salman's team did respond to the legal notice, saying that they would do the best they could, and have shared an email ID and asked the traders' association to mail them.
According to the notice sent by the traders' association, "The things sold on khanmarketonline.com would also be construed as sold by traders of the actual and physical Khan Market. Your web portal is misusing the name Khan Market, hence amounts to passing of your goods as the goods belonging to traders of the market. Your web portal is deceptively similar and lead to confusion that the portal is operated by the traders (sic)."Salman's team, asking for a change in the name of his portal, but there was no response. Then, on January 15, a legal notice was served to the actor, asking him to "withdraw the name Khan Market from your web portal, and to stop the unauthorized use of trade name Khan Market".
This time, however, Salman's team did respond to the legal notice, saying that they would do the best they could, and have shared an email ID and asked the traders' association to mail them. According to the notice sent by the traders' association, "The things sold on khanmarketonline.com would also be construed as sold by traders of the actual and physical Khan Market. Your web portal is misusing the name Khan Market, hence amounts tpassing of your goods as the goods belonging to traders of the market. Your web portal is deceptively similar and lead to confusion that the portal is operated by the traders (sic)."
Salman's team has been given a time period of seven days to respond to the notice and if his team doesn't give a favourable response, the case will go to court, the association says. Mehra tells us, "We are traders and we also don't have the time to go to court. In the legal notice, we have requested Salman to change the name of his portal. We are hoping that the issue will not go to court."
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