Wendt India gets injunction restraining 3M, Precompt from using trade name

Wendt (India) Ltd has received an ad-interim order from a court in Bangalore of temporary injunction restraining 3M India Ltd, Bangalore, and Precomp Gears (P) Ltd, Pune, from using the trade name Wendt in dealing with machine tools, abrasives, grinding machines etc.

Wendt is a joint venture between Murugappa Group's arm Carborundum Universal Ltd (Cumi) and Germany-based Wendt GmbH.

The partnership of Cumi and Wendt GmbH, which is a part of 3M now, has been into an ownership dispute for more than two years. The ad-interim injunction order on March 6 by the Court of the Principal City Civil and Sessions Judge will be in force for 90 days or till further orders, whichever is earlier, added the company.

"The above order was issued by the court in a suit filed by Wendt India Limited on the basis of the defendants' usage of the 'Wendt' brand in their advertisements," the company said in a filing to the BSE. The foreign partner had informed the company in September, 2012, that it does not intend to extend the technical-cum-collaboration agreement beyond the expiry date falling on September 20, 2012.

The dispute over the ownership of the joint venture after Wendt GmbH's parent firm Winterthur Technologies was acquired by multinational firm 3M is under the consideration of the Company Law Board.