Bombay High Court Removes 'PAXIL' Mark From Trade Marks Register Over 20 Years Of Non-Use

The Bombay High Court recently ordered the removal of the trademark 'PAXIL' from the Register of Trade Marks, holding that its proprietor, Shreya Life Sciences Private Limited, had held on to the mark without using it for nearly twenty years. Justice Arif S. Doctor observed that internal business decisions such as “expansion of business” cannot be used as a valid excuse for not using a trademark for long periods. “Respondent No. 1 has, after obtaining the impugned registration, simply...

Limitation No Ground To Refuse Arbitration Reference Unless Claim Is Clearly Time- Barred: J&K&L High Court

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has reiterated that a plea of limitation cannot by itself block the appointment of an arbitrator unless the claim is clearly time-barred, and that such questions should ordinarily be left to the arbitral tribunal. A bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar relying on earlier precedents held,“at the time of considering a petition under Section 11(6) of the Act, unless it is shown that the claim is ex facie time barred or hopelessly time barred, the Court...

Bombay High Court Quashes Municipal Cess Assessment Orders Against HPCL Over 10-Year Delay

The Bombay High Court has recently quashed municipal cess assessment orders passed by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation against Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., holding that completing proceedings more than ten years after issuing show cause notices was unreasonable and liable to be set aside. A Division Bench of Justices G. S. Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe noted that the issue raised was already covered by its earlier ruling and that the corporation was bound by it. “In this view of the...

Taxpayer Must Be Heard Even If They Opt Out Of Personal Hearing Under GST Law: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court recently quashed a GST demand against a registered taxpayer, holding that authorities must grant a personal hearing before passing an adverse order and cannot bypass this requirement even if the taxpayer opts out in a form. A division bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi held that the statutory mandate governing adjudication has to be strictly followed. The court said, “the option of no personal hearing taken by the petitioner, cannot override the...

Telangana High Court Upholds 1% Royalty Cap On Export Sales, Dismisses Gulf Oil Appeals

The Telangana High Court on 26 March, upheld the restriction of royalty on export sales to 1% for Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd., holding that regulatory approvals permitting higher royalty rates do not determine arm's length price under transfer pricing provisions, which operate as a self-contained code under Sections 92 to 92F of the Income Tax Act. The Division Bench comprising Justices P. Sam Koshy and Suddala Chalapathi Rao held that no substantial question of law arose in the matter and...

Madras High Court Upholds Dismissal Of Hatsun 'Arokya' Trademark Suit Against Patanjali 'Aarogya'

The Madras High Court on 21 April 2026 dismissed an appeal filed by Hatsun Agro Product Ltd., upholding a summary judgment rejecting its trademark infringement and passing off claims against Patanjali Biscuits Pvt. Ltd. and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. A Division Bench comprising Justices P. Velmurugan and K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi held that the use of the mark “PATANJALI AAROGYA” for biscuits does not infringe Hatsun's “AROKYA” mark used for dairy products. It held: “The goods falling under Class...

Patna High Court Temporarily Restrains Local Company From Using 'Johnson' Mark For Paint Products

The Patna High Court has recently restrained Johnson Paints Private Limited from using the “JOHNSON” brand name, granting temporary relief to Johnson Paints Co.Setting aside a Commercial Court order that had refused an injunction, a Division Bench of Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Justice Praveen Kumar found that the lower court erred in concluding that no prima facie case of prior use or goodwill was made out. Examining the respondent's claim of rights based on a chain of assignment deeds...

Company Auditor's General Observation Not Adverse Remark, Can't Trigger Criminal Liability: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court at Goa on Monday quashed criminal proceedings initiated against the directors of a company under the Companies Act, 1956, holding that the auditor's remark was merely a general observation or recommendation and did not constitute a “reservation, qualification, or adverse remark” so as to attract penal liability. A bench of Justice Ashish S. Chavan was dealing with a writ petition filed by the directors of Timblo Private Limited challenging the order of the Judicial...

Delhi High Court Upholds Arbitral Award Denying Distributor's Loss Of Profit Claim Against Bausch & Lomb

The Delhi High Court has recently upheld an arbitral award passed in favour of Bausch & Lomb India Pvt. Ltd., a leading eye-care products manufacturer. It rejected claims of OSA Vendita Pvt. Ltd., its non-exclusive distributor in Kolkata, for loss of profits. The court found that the distributorship agreement for the supply of eye-care products did not stipulate any assured or fixed sales commitment. In the absence of such a stipulation, the distributor could not recover losses arising...

Delhi High Court Orders Suspension of 'ebai.org' Over Lupin QR Codes Redirecting To Porn Content

The Delhi High Court has granted an ex parte ad-interim injunction in favour of Lupin Limited, ordering that the domain 'www.ebai.org' be suspended, disabled, or deleted within 36 hours.The direction came after QR codes printed on the company's eye-care products, which link to that website, were found redirecting users to pornographic content. Lupin has alleged that the domain itself had been taken over by an unidentified third party. The order was passed on April 17, 2026 by Justice Jyoti...

IBC Offences Triable Only By Special Court Where Company's Registered Office Is Located: Madhya Pradesh HC

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that offences under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 can be tried only by the Special Court having jurisdiction over the place where a company's registered office is situated, ruling that a Gwalior court lacked inherent jurisdiction to entertain a complaint against a company whose registered office is in New Delhi.“From the bare reading of section 436 it is clear that offences shall be triable only by the Special Court established under section 435...

IBC Auction Purchaser Not Liable For Past Electricity Dues: Telangana HC Sets Aside ₹2.64 Lakh Demand

The Telangana High Court has recently set aside a demand raised against an auction purchaser under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, holding that such a purchaser cannot be made liable for electricity dues of the previous owner where the claim was not part of the insolvency process, and further that a demand raised after nearly 16 years is barred by limitation. Justice Renuka Yara, allowing the writ petition, emphasised that once the resolution process concludes, undisclosed statutory dues...