Salman Khan's return gift lands him in legal soup!

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has found himself entangled in yet another controversy. The Khan Market Traders Association has decided to sue Salman for using the name 'Khan Market' for his online shopping portal.

As a treat for his fans across the world on his 50th birthday, superstar Salman Khan unveiled an online shopping portal named "Khan Market".

Though it is yet to open for use, the market has begun registrations. Salman announced the market launch on his social networking page. He tweeted: 'Thank u for ur bday wishes. Means a lot to me. Aur yeh raha aapka return gift KhanMarketOnline.com'.

"We are a world-famous market. How can the actor use our market's name for his portal? If he announces discount for merchandise on his portal, customers will turn up here and ask for the same. They are bound to be confused," Association president Sanjiv Mehra told a leading daily. [sic]

The Association plans to approach the Delhi High Court on January 4. But legal experts told the daily that their case against Salman is weak. "There is no trademark infringement in this case. There must be thousands of Khan Markets in the country. It is likely to be dismissed as a frivolous litigation if and when the case is filed," Sanjay Upadhyay, a Supreme Court advocate, said. [sic]

Bangalore-based legal researcher and founder of Alternative Law Forum, Lawrence Liang also added, "There's a common legal remedy to protect unregistered trademarks. But because the two parties here are not competitors in the same trade and it is unlikely that their businesses will be affected, I don't see any merit of the case." [sic]

Some also see it as a publicity stunt. As social jurist advocate Ashok Agarwal suggested, "There is no provision in the law for such claims. This will just give publicity to both the market and the portal." [sic]

But Sanjiv further disagreed and added, "Since the name Khan Market has been with us for ages we have a right on it. In the case of Khan Chacha, the court ruled in its favour because of its popularity," he said. [sic]

With 150 shops and 35 restaurants, Khan Market has often found space in the list of costliest retail locations in the world. It is also one of the most expensive market space in the country.

We just hope the start of Salman Khan's New Year is a positive one!