The Madras High Court, on 29 October, closed a trademark infringement suit filed by Aachi Masala Foods and its promoter after a Chennai tea shop changed its name to remove the disputed word “Aachi”, and the plaintiffs stated that they had no objection to the revised name.
A Bench of Justice P B Balaji disposed of the suit after recording the plaintiffs' submission that they were no longer aggrieved by the name “Sudali Tea Shop”, which replaced the earlier name “Sudali Aachi Tea Shop”.
The plaintiffs had alleged trademark infringement on the ground that the first defendant was using “Sudali Aachi Tea Shop” as its trade name.
They had sought to restrain the tea shop from using the name or any deceptively or phonetically similar mark in connection with tea, tiffin and restaurant services. They had also sought directions to Google LLC to remove the business listing for “Sudali Aachi Tea Shop” from its search results.
During the hearing, the plaintiffs' counsel submitted a memo enclosing a photograph showing that the tea shop had changed its name to “Sudali Tea Shop”. Also, that the plaintiffs had no grievance with the revised name.
Further, the plaintiffs informed the Bench that Google had removed the relevant link and that they were no longer pressing any relief against the technology company.
Accordingly, the High Court closed the suit while granting the plaintiffs liberty to establish a fresh cause of action in the future, if necessary.
For Petitioner: Advocate Gladys Rosette C Daniel
For Google: Advocate G.Balasubramanian