In a recent case filed at the High Court of Delhi, M/s Shree Rajmoti Industries filed for a trademark infringement and passing off suit against, M/s Shri Vishwaprabha Foods Pvt. Ltd.
The Defendant's, Vishwaprabha, used the word 'Rajmoti' along with a tag line, as a part of their label for rice, as show below,
The Plaintiff claimed extensive use of the trademark RAJMOTI for edible oils and stated that, the defendant's mark was likely to cause confusion amongst the consumers since the defendant's products with the mark RAJMOTI, were also food products. Both, Rajmoti and Vishwaprabha were readily available in shops and supermarkets in the food section. When the plaintiff approached the High Court initially, the Court agreed to Rajmoti's submissions and granted an ex-parte injunction in favour of Rajmoti, and also appointed a Local Commissioner to investigate the activities of the Defendant. However, when the Local Commissioner reached the defendant's place of business, no infringing rice with the trademark RAJMOTI was found. The defendant did not even appear in the proceedings nor did the defendant deny any allegations. The Court was convinced by the initial evidence produced and passed a decree of permanent injunction against Vishwaprabha.
Two inferences can be arrived at from these proceedings, , firstly, use of the same trademark for a different item of food, in this case, edible oil and rice, will amount to infringement. Secondly, even if no evidence of infringement is found or produced during the subsequent proceedings, the initial evidence will be sufficient for the court to pass a decree of permanent injunction.
Compiled by: Sachi Kapoor | Concept & Edited by: Dr. Mohan Dewan
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