Supreme Court & High Courts
Delhi High Court Grants Permanent Injunction In Favour Of Allied Blenders In 'Officer's Choice' Trademark Case
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday decreed a trademark infringement suit in favour of Allied Blenders and Distillers Ltd., granting a permanent injunction restraining Batra Breweries and Distilleries Pvt. Ltd. from using the marks “Officer's Choice”, “Officer's Choice Blue”, “Choice”, or any other identical or deceptively similar mark. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the final decree disposing of the commercial suit filed by Allied Blenders alleging infringement of its well-known whisky...
Joint Commissioner's VAT Revision Cannot Be Revisited By Senior Officer: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court on 2 February held that once an order is revised by a Joint Commissioner under Section 86 of the West Bengal Value Added Tax Act, 2003, it cannot be subjected to a further suo motu revision under Section 85 by a Senior Joint Commissioner, as both officers act as delegates of the Commissioner and exercise the same revisional authority. A Bench of Justice Kausik Chanda, while dismissing a review petition filed by the West Bengal Tax Department, wrote: "Once an order has...
Supreme Court Refuses To Interfere With NCLAT Order Rejecting EPFO Claim Made After Liquidation Commencement
The Supreme Court has recently dismissed an appeal filed by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, declining to interfere with a ruling of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on the treatment of claims in liquidation. A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and K. Vinod Chandran said it found “no good ground and reason” to interfere with the NCLAT judgment dated September 24, 2024. The dispute arose from the liquidation of Khushi Foods Limited, which began on October 9, 2019. During the...
Supreme Court Stays CESTAT Order Against Prism Johnson In ₹11.25-Crore Service Tax, CENVAT Credit Case
The Supreme Court on Monday, issued notice and granted an interim stay on an order passed by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), New Delhi against listed building materials company Prism Johnson Limited. The tribunal had upheld a service tax demand of about Rs 11.25 crore and denied CENVAT credit of around Rs 7.70 crore in related excise proceedings. A bench comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Vijay Bishnoi passed the order after hearing senior counsel...
Supreme Court Sets Aside Interim Relief In Arbitration Case Involving Pure Money Claim
The Supreme Court recently set aside a Calcutta High Court order directing escrow of payments arising out of a master service agreement, holding that in the facts of the case, where the dispute involved a pure money claim and there was no risk of irrecoverability, the High Court ought not to have granted interim protection after arbitration had been invoked. A Bench of Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Manmohan held that in such circumstances, the High Court should have deferred to the arbitral...
Vivek Oberoi Moves Delhi High Court Over AI, Deepfake Misuse of Personality Rights
Actor Vivek Oberoi has filed a commercial suit before the Delhi High Court seeking an injunction against the alleged infringement of his publicity and personality rights, including the unauthorised use of his name, image, voice, and likeness for commercial and personal gain. The suit has been filed through Advocate Sana Raees Khan. The suit has been instituted against several entities, including Collector Bazar, ZoomMantra, Indiacontent, WattPad and Bollywood Movie Posters, alleging...
Trial Court Must Pause Trademark Infringement Suit Once Validity Plea Is Found Tenable: Punjab & Haryana High Court
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently reiterated that once a trial court comes to the conclusion that a plea challenging the validity of a registered trademark is prima facie tenable, it must not proceed with the infringement suit and is bound to grant time to the concerned party to approach the Registrar or the High Court for rectification. A single bench of Justice Pankaj Jain clarified that under section 124 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, a trial court does not have the jurisdiction...
Arbitration Can Resume Without Fresh Notice After Award Is Set Aside: Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court has held that once an arbitral award is set aside, the disputes stand revived and can be referred back to arbitration without requiring the parties to issue a fresh notice under Section 21 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.Section 21 deals with the commencement of arbitral proceedings through notice to the opposing party. Justice Suraj Govindaraj held that this requirement is procedural and not jurisdictional and cannot be invoked to block arbitration after...
Delhi High Court Bars “Divine Miss India” For Infringing Times Group's “Miss India” Trademark
The Delhi High Court has permanently restrained Seraphic Divine Beauty Pvt. Ltd. from organising or promoting a beauty pageant under the name “Divine Miss India,” holding that the mark infringes and passes off the iconic “Miss India” trademark owned by Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd.A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Jyoti Singh, by a judgment dated January 21, 2026, ruled in favour of Bennett, holding that use of the impugned mark amounted to trademark infringement and passing off and was...
Supreme Court Stays NCLAT Finding On Patents Act Prevailing Over Competition Act
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed key observations of the NCLAT, which had held that the Patents Act prevails over the Competition Act and that the Competition Commission of India lacks jurisdiction to inquire into alleged anti-competitive conduct involving patented products A bench of the Supreme Court of India comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Vijay Bishnoi issued notice in an appeal filed by the Competition Commission of India against the NCLAT's order dated October 30,...
Delhi High Court Slaps ₹1 Lakh Cost On Litigant For 'Calculated Attempt' To Delay Arbitral Award Execution
The Delhi High Court has imposed Rs 1 lakh in costs on a litigant for what it called a “calculated attempt” to stall enforcement of a decade-old arbitral award. Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar dismissed the objection application, holding that repeated attempts to delay execution, as in the present case, cannot be justified as an exercise of legal rights. The court underscored that the award, passed on December 31, 2014, had already attained finality. “The approach adopted by the Objector...
Delhi High Court Temporarily Restrains One-Person Company From Using 'Media Monk' Name
The Delhi High Court has temporarily barred a one-person company from using the name “Media Monk” after finding it deceptively similar to the global digital brand MediaMonks and likely to mislead consumers. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela granted an ex parte ad interim injunction against Systemry Global Tech (OPC) Pvt. Ltd. The court restrained the company from using the marks “Media Monk”, “MediaMonk”, the domain name mediamonk.ai, or any other mark or domain that is deceptively similar to...