The central legal point established in the judgment is the requirement to establish a prima facie case for the grant of interim relief in cases of passing off and unfair competition, based on the likelihood of confusion or deception.

( 1 ) THIS IS AN APPLICATION FOR INTERIM RELIEF IN A suit FOR PASSING OFF AND UNFAIR COMPETITION. THIS SUIT has BEEN INSTITUTED BY THE PLAINTIFF, TWENTIETH CENTURY fox FILM CORPORATION, AND RELATES TO THE fx CHANNEL launched BY IT IN JUNE 1994 WHICH HAS DIVERSE PROGRAMMES including MOTION PICTURE FILMS WHICH INCLUDE ACTION FILMS from THE PLAINTIFF AS WELL AS OTHER MAJOR STUDIOS. VARIOUS OTHER POPULAR PROGRAMMES ALSO AIRED ON THE SAID channel AND THE CHANNEL IS AVAILABLE IN UK, US. THE plaintiff HAS THUS PROPRIETORY RIGHTS IN THE MARK fx used BY IT EXTENSIVELY SINCE 1994. IN INDIA THE plaintiff IS THE REGISTERED PROPRIETOR OF THE MARK fx . THE fx CHANNEL HAS BEEN EXTENSIVELY ADVERTISED AND HAS had EXTENSIVE MEDIA COVERAGE IN SEVERAL WELL CIRCULATED magazines AND JOURNALS. THUS THE fx CHANNEL AND ITS programmes HAVE BECOME SYNONYMOUS WITH THE PLAINTIFFS. THE DEFENDANT HAD LAUNCHED DIRECT TO HOME (DTH) SERVICES in OCTOBER 2003 AND WAS INTENDING TO LAUNCH fx CHANNEL. THE PLAINTIFF HAS FILED THE PRESENT APPLICATION IN THE pending SUIT TO RESTRAIN THE USE OF fx CHANNEL BY THE defendant SO AS TO SEEK INJUNCTION AGAINST THE DEFENDANT from USING THE MARK fx SO AS NOT TO VIOLATE THE RIGHTS of THE PLAINTIFF.

( 2 ) IN REPLY THE DEFENDANT HAS CONTENDED THAT IT HAS a GROUP OF COMPANIES INCLUDING ZEE TV, ZEE NEWS, ZEE, cinema, ZEE MUSIC, ZEE MGM, ZEE ENGLISH, ALPHA CHANNELS, alpha BENGALI, ALPHA GUJRAT, ALPHA MARATHI, ALPHA punjabi, NICHE CHANNELS, SMILE TV, TRENDZ TV AND fx . IT ALSO INCLUDE SEVERAL ORIGINALLY LAUNCHED BOUQUETS. THE DEFENDANT ORIGINALLY WAS REACHING ITS VIEWERS THROUGH cable BUT RECENTLY HAS GOT A LICENCE TO RUN THE DTH platform TELEVISION SERVICE. THE fx CHANNEL ONLY RUNS on DTH PLATFORM.

( 3 ) IT IS, INTER ALIA, CONTENDED BY THE DEFENDANT that :

A) fx IS A HIGHLY DESCRIPTIVE WORD AND NOBODY has A MONOPOLY OVER ITS USE.

B) fx HAS NOT ACQUIRED THE SECONDARY MEANING of DISTINCTIVENESS IN FAVOUR OF THE PLAINTIFF.

C) NO GOODWILL OR REPUTATION IN INDIA WAS established IN RESPECT OF THE MARK fx AND THE MERE FACT of ADVERTISEMENTS IN FOREIGN MAGAZINE DOES NOT CONFER ANY rights ON THE PLAINTIFF.

D) NO LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION EXIST BETWEEN THE plaintiff AND THE DEFENDANT s ESTABLISHED MARK.

( 4 ) DURING THE COURSE OF ARGUMENTS THE DEFENDANT agreed TO ALTER ITS CHANNEL TO ANOTHER MARK mx . THUS it IS THE DEFENDANTS SUBMISSION THAT WITHOUT ADMITTING the CORRECTNESS OF THE AVERMENTS OF THE PLAINTIFF, THE altered MARK WILL LEAVE NO MANNER OF DOUBT OR CONFUSION between THE TWO COMPETING MARKS. THE DEFENDANTS HAS THUS suggested THAT IT WILL ALTER ITS MARK TO mx INSTEAD OF fx . THE DEFENDANTS ALSO AGREED TO PUT THE MARK ZEE ATO mx. IT HAS ALSO INDICATED THAT THE WORD Z ON ZEE WILL BE seen IN THE REASONABLY PROMINENT MANNER SO THAT THERE will NO DOUBT OR CONFUSION ABOUT THE MARK BELONGING TO the ZEE NETWORK. LEARNED COUNSEL FOR THE DEFENDANT HAD filed THREE SUGGESTED AND ALTERED LOGOS WHICH ARE MARKED as X Y AND Z. THE COUNSEL FOR THE PLAINTIFF HOWEVER DID not AGREE TO THE LOGOS PROPOSED BY THE DEFENDANT AND wanted A DECISION ON MERITS.

( 5 ) A BARE PERUSAL OF THE MARK mx (MARKED Z) suggested BY THE DEFENDANT WHICH I HAVE COMPARED WITH THE plaintiff s MARK fx , DEMONSTRATES THE FOLLOWING comparative FEATURES OF THE TWO MARKS:-ON CAREFUL PERUSAL OF ALL THE THREE LOGOS submitted, I AM OF THE VIEW THAT THE DEFENDANTS ADOPTION of THE MARK AT ANNEXURE Z WHICH HAS ZEE LETTERS IN white ALONG WITH WORD Z IN BROWN AND WORD M AND STAGGERED x ARE SUFFICIENT TO DISTINGUISH THE DEFENDANT s MARK FROM that OF THE PLAINTIFF. ONCE SUCH A MARK IS USED AND THE channel ZEE IDENTIFIED CLEARLY TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THE channel mx BELONG TO ZEE NETWORK AND IS BEING MARKED AS mx , THERE IS NO REASONABLE POSSIBILITY OF CONFUSION OR deception OF A POSSIBLE VIEWER. TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE fact THAT THIS SUIT IS MAINLY ABOUT A MARK SEEN ON THE visual MEDIA SUCH A CHANGE OFFERED TO BE MADE IS sufficient TO REDRESS THE