A commercial court in Belagavi issued fresh summons on Monday, 16 February, to representatives of the US-based artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic PBC in a trademark issue case filed by a Karnataka-based company over the mark “ANTHROPIC”, according to a Bar and Bench report.
Principal District and Sessions Judge Manjunath Nayak had earlier issued summons to the company, but its representatives did not appear in court on February 16 as instructed.
The latest summons was instructed to be issued to the officers of the company at its newly opened Bengaluru office.
The case was filed by Belagavi-based Anthropic Softwares Private Limited, which alleged trademark violation by the American company.
What is the case about?
Anthropic Softwares Private Limited sought a temporary injunction to prevent the US company from directly or indirectly claiming an association with it by using the mark “Anthropic” or any similar or confusingly similar marks, the report said.
The company asserted that it has used the name “Anthropic” since 2017 and has built substantial goodwill in the Indian subcontinent over the years. It said that on AI-based platforms and standard Google searches, the US company’s name is prominently suggested instead of its own.
“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 report quoted the company.
The Indian company based its information on a newspaper report claiming that the American entity was opening its first office in India, as well as a website announcement indicating it would start operations in Bengaluru in early 2026.
Court’s earlier ruling
On January 17, 2026, the court issued an order allowing the suit to be filed without requiring mandatory pre-institution mediation, as urgent interim relief was sought.
According to the report, the court refused to issue an ex parte injunction, noting that, aside from the two publications, there was no evidence that the American company had commenced operations in India under the Karnataka-based company’s registered mark. The court also observed that the defendant’s address in the cause title was listed as San Francisco, suggesting that no Indian establishment had been established yet. The court stated there was no immediate risk of infringement.
The court issued notice on the interim application and summons to the US company. No representatives for the company appeared at the hearing on Monday, resulting in the issuance of new summonses. It observed that the US company established an office in Bengaluru and directed that the summons be dispatched to that Bengaluru address.
