[Trademarks Act] Infringement Proceedings Can't Be Quashed Due To 'Irregularity' Of Search & Seizure Without Registrar's Opinion: Karnataka HC

The Karnataka High Court has held that non-compliance with Subsection (4) of Section 115 of the Trade Mark Act, which mandates taking opinion of the Registrar of Trade Marks, before carrying out search and seizure is an irregularity for which the infringement proceedings cannot be quashed.A single judge bench of Justice Suraj Govindaraj held thus while dismissing a petition filed by Manjunatha M S who had approached the court questioning the prosecution initiated against him for offences...

Identical Marks For Medicines Could Mislead Customers, Delhi High Court Restrains Rebanta Healthcare From Using Dr Reddys' Registered Trademark

The Delhi High Court single bench of Justice Mini Pushkarna held that using visually and phonetically identical marks for medicines could confuse the general public, especially when the products serve different medical purposes. A permanent injunction was granted against Rebanta Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. for using Dr Reddys Laboratories Ltd.'s trademark 'REBAHEAL'. Both Rebanta and Dr Reddys are pharmaceutical companies which manufacture a wide range of medicinal products. Brief Facts: ...

Madras High Court Stays Re-Release Of Kamal Hassan Starrer Film “Guna” Amidst Copyright Infringement Claims

The Madras High Court has stayed the re-release of Kamal Hassan starrer 1991 Tamil Movie “Gunaa” amidst copyright infringement claims. Justice P Velmurugan granted an ad-interim injunction on an application made by Ghanshyam Hemdev. Noting that the balance of convenience favored Hemdev, the court was inclined to grant the ad interim injunction. Meanwhile, the court also issued notices to the respondents, Pyramid Audio India Pvt Ltd, Evergreen Media Pvt Ltd, and Prasad Film...

Bombay High Court Directs Patanjali Ayurved To Deposit Rs 50 Lakh For Breach Of Injunction Order In Trademark Infringement Case

The Bombay High Court has directed Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. to deposit Rs. 50,00,000 to the court as it violated an injunction/ad-interim order of the Court that had restrained the company from selling its camphor products, in relation to a trademark infringement case filed by Mangalam Organics Ltd.Mangalam Organics (applicant) had filed a commercial IPR suit against Patanjali Ayurved (defendant no. 1), claiming passing off and copyright infringement of their camphor products. Through an...

Suit Against Passing Off Maintainable Even If Plaintiff And Defendant Have Identical Registered Trademarks: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court has held that a suit for passing off does not get affected by the two proprietors having similar registered trademarks and hence, it cannot be dismissed on account of Section 28(3) of the Trademarks Act, 1999.Section 28(3) of the Act provides that when two or more persons are registered proprietors of identical trademarks, none of the registered proprietors can file a case against the other for infringement of that trademark. A bench of Justice Vinit Kumar Mathur also...

Delhi High Court Refers Elon Musk Owned Tesla's Trademark Infringement Suit Against Gurugram-Based 'Tesla Power India' To Mediation

The Delhi High Court has referred to mediation the trademark infringement suit filed by Tesla Inc., owned by Elon Musk, against a Gurugram-based company, Tesla Power India Private Limited and its US counterpart.“Accordingly, with the consent of both the parties, the matter is referred to Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre, to be referred to Senior Mediator,” Justice Mini Pushkarna said in an order passed on July 04. The court directed both the parties to appear before the Delhi...

Courts Can Delve Into Examination Of Trademark Infringement In Execution Petitions, New Suit Not Needed: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court single bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh allowed an execution petition against the Defendants engaged in the infringement of the trademarks of Glaxo Group Limited, a biopharma company engaged in the production of vaccines. The High Court held that an executing court can delve into the merits of infringement to judge the violation of an original decree granting a permanent injunction to restrain the Defendants. Brief Facts: Glaxo Group Limited (“Glaxo”) filed a suit...

Bombay High Court Summons Patanjali Director In Trademark Infringement Case

The Bombay High Court has directed Patanjali Ayurveda director Rajnish Mishra to appear before it in connection with trademark infringement case filed by Mangalam Organics alleging that Patanjali infringed on packaging and trade dress of its camphor product.Justice RI Chagla was dealing with a contempt application by Mangalam Organics Ltd. against Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. and others for alleged breach of an ad-interim order dated August 30, 2023.Mangalam Organics Ltd. filed the original commercial...

Delhi High Court Grants Injunction To 'INFOSYS' Against 'Southern Infosys Ltd', Says Phonetic & Conceptual Similarity May Confuse Consumers

The Delhi High Court has recently clarified that minor procedural missteps that are adequately explained should not overshadow the merits of the case, particularly if there exists clear evidence of trademark infringement. Court said that visual or phonetic similarities may lead to consumer confusion.A single bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula observed that “the combination of visual, phonetic, and conceptual similarities between the marks, on a prima facie assessment significantly raises the...

Bombay High Court Grants Temporary Injunction In Favor Of Pidilite In Infringement Suit For Cement Container Design

The Bombay High Court recently granted ad interim injunction in favour of Pidilite Industries Limited (Pidilite) restraining Astral Limited (Astral) from infringing Pidilite's registered design of Coex plastic containers of its M-SEAL PV SEAL products. Justice Firdosh Pooniwalla held, “the Plaintiff has made out a prima facie case for grant of ad-interim reliefs in terms of prayer (a) of the Interim Application. If the injunction as sought in prayer (a) is not granted, then grave loss, harm and...

Delhi High Court Restrains Punjab Based 'Donito's' From Using Domino's Trademark While Selling Pizzas And Burgers

The Delhi High Court has recently restrained a Punjab based food chain “Donito's” from using the trademark of Domino's for selling pizzas and burgers. Justice Anish Dayal passed an ex-parte ad interim injunction in favour of Domino's pizza group of companies and directed Donito's to take down all references to its device marks in respect of Pizzas and Burgers from its domain www.donito's.in. The court also ordered various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube etc to take...

Delhi High Court Refuses Interim Relief To 'Forest Essentials' In Trademark Infringement Suit Against 'Baby Forest'

The Delhi High Court has dismissed the interim injunction plea filed by skincare and cosmetics brand Forest Essentials seeking to restrain another brand from using the marks “Baby Forest” and “Baby Forest- Soham of Ayurveda” while selling baby care products. Justice Anish Dayal observed that the word 'Forest' in itself is generic and Forest Essentials cannot claim dominance over the said part of their trademark, having not sought registration under Section 17 (2) of the Trademark Act.“For...