US AI Giant Anthropic Skips Court, Faces Fresh Trademark Summons in India

The order was passed on Monday by Principal District and Sessions Judge Manjunath Nayak after representatives of the American company failed to appear before the court on February 16 despite an earlier summons.

The suit has been filed by Belagavi-based Anthropic Softwares Private Ltd, which has alleged trademark violation. The Indian company has sought a temporary injunction restraining the US entity 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.

According to the complaint, the Belagavi-based firm claims it has been using the name "Anthropic" since 2017 and has acquired significant goodwill in the Indian subcontinent over the years. It contended that on AI-based platforms and standard Google searches, the American company's name is prominently suggested in place of its own, leading to confusion among users, customers and stakeholders.

"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," the suit argued.

The Indian company relied on a newspaper report stating that the American firm was opening its first office in India and on a website announcement indicating that operations in Bengaluru would commence in early 2026.

On January 17, 2026, the court permitted the suit to be filed without mandatory pre-institution mediation, noting that urgent interim relief had been sought. However, it 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 address of the defendant in the cause title was shown as San Francisco, indicating that no Indian establishment had been set up at the time. This suggested a lack of imminent threat of infringement, the court said while refusing to issue an ex parte temporary injunction.

Nevertheless, notice was issued on the interim application and summons were sent to the US company. As no representatives appeared for the hearing on Monday, the court ordered fresh summons to be issued to the company's officers at its newly-opened Bengaluru office.

The matter is expected to come up for further hearing after service of summons.

- IANS