Falcon vs. Dragon: Indian Court Throws out TVS Plea

While the prospect of a Dragon fighting a Falcon seems attractive to the PlayStation generation, 12 September’s court hearing in New Delhi ended with both creatures standing to meet another day. The P K Ruia Group can continue to sell Falcon tyres with similar tread patterns to Dragon tyres, much to the chagrin of TVS Srichakra, the manufacturer behind the Dragon.

Justice SB Sinha said that Falcon, based in Karnataka, could go ahead with its product design, despite TVS’s submission that “it was the registered owner of a particular design of tread pattern for its tyres marketed under brand ‘Dragon’ and the same was developed after spending stupendous amounts on R&D,” according to Indian news source, The Economic Times. It went on to say that “out of its seven brands of tyres, the Dragon brand, manufactured in three different sizes, had captured a huge market for itself. Falcon Tyres, which was selling under brand ‘Dunlop Challenger 101’ and ‘Zebra 101’ had copied the design of its tyres with “subtle and cosmetic changes” and the variations were not visible to a naked eye.”

Falcon sells under the Dunlop brand within India, leaving its ornithological pseudonym for the rest of the world, while TVS sells all its tyres under the Dragon moniker.