Madras High Court Refuses Preethi Hospitals Permission To Sue Over 'S. Preethi' College Name

The Madras High Court has recently refused to grant leave to Madurai-based Preethi Hospitals Private Limited and Blossom Global Trust to sue an educational trust in Sivagangai over its use of the name “S. Preethi” for a group of colleges.

Justice A.D. Maria Clete held that the applicants had not shown that any part of the cause of action arose within the court's Chennai jurisdiction.

The court observed, “It is the act of the respondent pleaded to have been done within these local limits that the applicants must prove in order to obtain their decree.”

The application was filed under Clause 12 of the Letters Patent, which requires leave where only part of the cause of action arises within the court's local jurisdiction.

Preethi Hospitals claimed continuous use of the “PREETHI HOSPITALS” mark since 2001 and registrations covering hospital, healthcare, educational, and training services. Blossom Global Trust runs Preethi College of Nursing. Both applicants are based in Madurai.

They sought to sue Augustine Educational and Charitable Trust, which operates the “S. PREETHI GROUP OF COLLEGES” at Arasanoor in Sivagangai District.

To establish Chennai jurisdiction, the applicants relied on the trademark registrations being obtained through the Chennai Trade Marks Registry, regulatory dealings with authorities in Chennai, students and patients coming from Chennai, and the educational trust's websites being accessible from the city. They also referred to recruitment and employment connections in Chennai.

The court rejected the trademark registration argument. It held that registration established the applicants' statutory rights, but was not an act of the educational trust giving rise to the alleged infringement.

The applicants did not need to prove that the registrations were obtained specifically through the Chennai office.

“If it were otherwise, every registered proprietor in this State could come to the Original Side of this Court against any infringer anywhere in the State,” the court observed.

The website argument also failed. One website contained only a general enquiry form, with no admissions portal, course selection, application facility or payment option.

The proposed nursing college's website contained dummy “Lorem ipsum” text and placeholder details and was marked “COMING SOON….”

The court observed that “being accessible everywhere is the opposite of being aimed at one place.” It noted that the applicants had not shown any Chennai-based application, enquiry, admission, payment, transaction or actual instance of confusion.

The court ultimately held that no part of the cause of action arose within its local jurisdiction. Even assuming jurisdiction existed, it added, leave would still have been refused because the applicants and their institutions are in Madurai, while the educational trust and the alleged use of the disputed names are in Sivagangai.