Supreme Court Asks Matrimony.com and Jodi365 to Explore Settlement

India's Supreme Court has asked Matrimony.com and its competitor Jodi365 to explore reaching a settlement in a five-year-old trademark dispute. The case concerns Matrimony.com's use of the trademark 'Jodii' for its matchmaking app, which was challenged by Jodi365's parent company, Free Elective Network.

During a hearing, the Supreme Court expressed its "disinclination" to entertain a plea from Matrimony.com, which had challenged a recent Madras High Court ruling restraining it from using the 'Jodii' trademark. The court instead urged the two parties to discuss a settlement.

Matrimony.com proposed renaming its app to 'Jodi Matrimony' as a potential settlement to avoid business disruption and impact on existing users. Matrimony.com's counsel argued that the word 'Jodi' is descriptive and commonly used in India to mean 'a couple or pair,' thus not exclusively owned by Free Elective. Free Elective, conversely, emphasized its continuous use of the 'Jodi365' trademark since 2009.

The dispute originated in 2021 when Matrimony.com launched its 'Jodii' app. While the Madras High Court initially ruled in favor of Matrimony.com, a subsequent division bench partially overturned the decision, imposing a permanent injunction against the use of the 'Jodii' mark, thus favoring Jodi365.