JUDGMENT

Debangsu Basak, J. - The Court: In a suit for passing off, the plaintiff seeks interim protection. Learned Senior Advocate appearing for the plaintiff submits that, the plaintiff applied for the trademark 'Republic' on November 20, 2016. The plaintiff applied for permission to run a T.V. channel on November 24, 2016. At that point of time, the defendant was not in the fray. He submits that, the plaintiff is the prior user of the trademark 'Republic TV'. He draws the attention of the Court to the fact that, Republic TV was launched on May 6, 2017. In fact, the launch of Republic TV was announced on December 15, 2016. During the period of March and April, 2017, there was wide spread advertisements on all India basis about the launch of Republic TV. The Republic TV was ultimately launched on May 6, 2017. He submits that, the defendant claims to have obtained a domain name of www.republichindi.com on May 6, 2017. There is every likelihood of the defendant copying the trademark of the plaintiff.

2. Referring to the notice dated March 3, 2018 issued on behalf of the plaintiff, learned Senior Advocate appearing for the plaintiff submits that, the defendant did not reply thereto. T