Madras High Court Approves Settlement Favouring SNS Movies In 'Think Studio' Trademark Dispute

The Madras High Court on 23 February decreed a trademark infringement suit in favour of SNS Movies Productions LLP, owner of Think Studios, after Manjunath, the proprietor of a rival firm, named Think Studio, undertook to permanently cease using the contested mark.

Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy recorded a settlement in which the defendant agreed to withdraw its pending trademark application and remove the infringing name from all digital and physical platforms by 10 April 2026. He noted:

“Subject to the above limited exemption, learned counsel for the defendant submits that a decree may be issued in terms of clauses (a) and (b) of paragraph 38 of the plaint. Learned counsel for the plaintiff agrees to give up claims in terms of clauses (c) and (d) of paragraph 38.”

SNS Movies had moved the Court against Manjunath, alleging infringement and passing off. It contended that the defendant's use of “THINK STUDIO” was a colorable imitation of their registered trademark, “THINK STUDIOS”.

Originally, SNS Movies had sought a permanent injunction and a direction for Manjunath to disclose accounts of profits for assessment of damages.

However, during the proceedings, Manjunath filed an undertaking affidavit on 23 February 2026, committing to permanently cease and desist from using the mark “THINK STUDIO” or any other mark deceptively similar to the plaintiff's.

Under the settlement, Manjunath agreed to immediately withdraw trademark application No. 6972552 and to remove the infringing mark from all domain names, URLs, Instagram accounts, and other social media platforms.

In view of this undertaking, SNS Movies waived its claims for damages and costs.

Consequently, Justice Ramamoorthy decreed the suit in terms of the permanent injunctions sought in the plaint.

The Court granted the defendant a narrowly limited exemption to use the “THINK STUDIO” mark until 9 April 2026, solely “for auditing, administrative and allied compliance purposes.”

Accordingly, the Court closed all connected applications and ordered that there would be no order as to costs.

For SNS Movies: Advocate Vijayan Subramanian