1. This order shall dispose off IA No. 2352/2008 preferred by the A plaintiffs under Order XXXIX Rule 1and2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, seeking an ad interim injunction restraining the defendants from infringing the trademark and copyright of the plaintiffs in the board game called SCRABBLE.

2. The first plaintiff is a company incorporated in Delaware, United States. The second and third plaintiffs, incorporated in the United Kingdom and India respectively, are wholly owned subsidiaries of the first plaintiff. They aver to being leading manufacturers of toys, games and consumer products. Their best selling brands include Barbie, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Little People and a wide assortment of entertainment inspired toy lines.

.3. One of the well-known products of the plaintiffs is the board game marketed and popularized by the name SCRABBLE (hereafter referred to as the game). This word-based game challenges the players to form words on a grid; points are scored by forming such words. It is averred that over 100 million sets of the game have been sold in approximately 29 different languages. They also manufacture and market board games with SCRABBLE formative marks, like the Junior Scrabble, the Rainbow Scrabble etc. The game was invented in 1932 by one Mr. Alfred Mosher Butts and has been redesigned since then. The trademark SCRABBLE has been used since the year 1948. The plaintiffs aver being owners of the trademark SCRABBLE in all countries except the United State and Canada, where Hasbro Inc. owns it. The plaintiffs own two registrations in relation to the trademark SCRABBLE in India; No.850786 in Class 9 and No. 342431 in Class 28, from the year 1999 and 1978 respectively. It is averred that two related applications are pending registration. These marks have also been registered in number of other countries.

4. The plaintiffs state that the game is very popular in a number of countries and can be judged by the fact that the Oxford English Dictionary, Volume XIV, Second Edition, 1991 defines scrabble as the proprietary name of game in which the players use tiles displaying individual letters to form words on a special board. The plaint avers that world wide, several tournaments and competitions based on the game are conducted every year. Further, various computer and video game versions of the game have been released by the plaintiffs licensees for various platforms including PC, Mac, Amiga, Playstation, Palm OS and mobile phones. In this respect the plaintiffs have given a list of their licensees for various platforms. They have also advertised and promoted the game extensively through the Internet and they maintain websites including www.scrabble.com and www.mattelscrabble.com. The plaintiffs claim that mark SCRABBLE has become a well-known trademark within the meaning of section 11(6) of the Trademarks Act, 1999. It is stated that the plaintiffs have made sales to the tune of Rs. 13 corers in India from the year 2003, and the expenditure on marketing and promotion amounted to approximately Rs. 51 lakhs.

5. The plaintiffs claim that every version of the game since the first in 1932 is an artistic work under section 2(c) of the Copyright Act, 1957 and the plaintiffs works are entitled to protection in India by virtue of the International Copyright Order, 1991. The plaintiffs have filed a table depicting the flow of title in the copyrighted work, from the creators to the predecessors in interest of the plaintiffs and finally themselves. Following the takeover of the second plaintiff by the first plaintiff in 1999, the game was redesigned and the latest version created. Apart from claiming the ownership in the artistic layout of the board, the plaintiffs also claim to be the owners of the copyright in the rules of the game, which according to them is a literary work under section 2 (o) of the Copyright Act, 1957.

6. The first and second defendants are brothers and partners in the third defendant, a firm engaged in

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