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High Court of Delhi
S. MURALIDHAR, J.
T.V. Today Network Ltd. & Another
Versus
Kesari Singh Gujjar & Others
CS (OS) No. 1085 of 2005
Decided on : 07-10-2013
TRADE MARK - Infringement - Sections 28, 29, 33 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 - The court found that the Defendants' use of the mark 'Aaj Tak' amounted to infringement and passing off of the Plaintiffs' registered trade mark. The Plaintiffs were entitled to a permanent injunction based on ownership of the registered trade mark 'Aaj Tak'. The Defendants failed to prove their entitlement to the use of the word mark 'Aaj Tak' on the basis of the registration under the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867. The Plaintiffs were awarded punitive damages in the sum of Rs. 5 lakhs from the Defendants, jointly and severally.
Fact of the Case:
The Plaintiffs filed a suit against the Defendants for permanent injunction restraining the Defendants from passing off their publications and for delivery up of all products of the Defendants and for rendition of accounts and damages. The Plaintiffs held registration for the trade mark 'Aaj Tak' and claimed that the Defendants were publishing a Hindi newspaper depicting the same word mark 'Aaj Tak', misleading the public and encashing on the reputation and goodwill of the Plaintiffs.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the Defendants' use of the mark 'Aaj Tak' amounted to infringement and passing off of the Plaintiffs' registered trade mark. The Plaintiffs were entitled to a permanent injunction based on ownership of the registered trade mark 'Aaj Tak'. The Defendants failed to prove their entitlement to the use of the word mark 'Aaj Tak' on the basis of the registration under the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867. The Plaintiffs were awarded punitive damages in the sum of Rs. 5 lakhs from the Defendants, jointly and severally.
Issues: The issues framed by the Court were: (1) Does the Plaintiff prove entitlement to injunctive relief, as claimed, based on ownership of the registered trade mark 'Aaj Tak'? (2) Does the Plaintiff prove the Defendant’s use of the mark or words 'Aaj Tak' amounts to infringement and/or passing off? (3) Does the Defendant prove its entitlement to use the word 'Aaj Tak' on the basis of registration under the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867? (4) Is the Plaintiff entitled to damages and/or rendition of accounts, as claimed?
Ratio Decidendi: The Plaintiffs were able to demonstrate that there had been an infringement of their registered trade mark 'Aaj Tak' in terms of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. The Defendants' use of the impugned mark 'Aaj Tak' was found to amount to infringement and passing off of the Plaintiffs' registered trade mark. The Defendants failed to prove their entitlement to the use of the word mark 'Aaj Tak' on the basis of the registration under the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867. The Plaintiffs were awarded punitive damages in the sum of Rs. 5 lakhs from the Defendants, jointly and severally.
Final Decision: The suit was decreed in favor of the Plaintiffs. The Plaintiffs were entitled to a permanent injunction, and the Defendants were ordered to pay punitive damages in the sum of Rs. 5 lakhs to the Plaintiffs, jointly and severally.
1. This is a suit filed by TV Today Network Ltd. (Plaintiff No.1) and Living Media India Ltd. (Plaintiff No.2) against the Chief Editor and Editor (Defendants 1 and 2 respectively) of United Group of Media (Defendant No.3), Mr. Uttam Prakash (Defendant No.4), and M/s. Roshan Offset (Defendant No.5) for permanent injunction
restraining the Defendants from passing off of their publications and for delivery up of all products of the Defendants and for rendition of accounts and damages.
2. After the filing of the suit in August 2005, the Plaintiff No.2 obtained registration for the trade mark ‘Aaj Tak’. Accordingly, by an order dated 17th May 2006, the Plaintiffs
were permitted to amend the plaint to seek the relief of permanent injunction restraining the Defendants from infringing the Plaintiffs’ registered trade mark ‘Aaj Tak’.
3. The Plaintiffs are companies having registered office in New Delhi. They state that Plaintiff No.2 is the publisher of several reputed news publications including ‘India Today’, ‘Business Today’, ‘Computers Today’ and ‘Readers Digest’. From the year 1987, it has also been engaged in producing TV news programmes. In 1995, it decided to commence a news programme in Hindi under the name of ‘Aaj Tak’ and was granted registration for the said trade mark in classes 38 and 41. It also applied for registration of the trade mark in Classes 9 and 6 of the Schedule to the Trade Marks Rules. Plaintiff No.2 also acquired trademark registration in respect of the marks ‘Subha Aaj Tak’, ‘Khel Aaj Tak’ and ‘Saptahik Aaj Tak’ in Class 9. Copies of the trade marks registration certificates have been filed along with the plaint.
4. In 2000, Plaintiff No.2 launched a 24-hour news channel under the name ‘Aaj Tak’. Plaintiff No.1 was established by Plaintiff No.2 as a new corporate entity for managing and administering the ‘Aaj Tak’ news channel. Plaintiff No.2 also licensed the use of the word, logo and trade mark/trade name ‘Aaj Tak’ to Plaintiff No.1. The Plaintiffs state that ‘Aaj Tak’ is a household name in India and several other countries where the TV signals of the ‘Aaj Tak’ channel are beamed. The trade mark/service mark ‘Aaj Tak’ has therefore been continuously and uninterruptedly used by the Plaintiffs since 1995. The Plaintiffs states that the news channel has won several awards and citations. It is stated that the trader mark/service mark ‘Aaj Tak’ is an arbitrary, unique combination/collection of two words in Hindi language thereby making the mark a highly distinctive one. Members of the public associate the mark only with the Plaintiffs. It is stated that Plaintiff No.1 has become the exclusive perpetual licensee of trade mark/logo ‘Aaj Tak’. It is stated that ‘Aaj Tak’ is a well known trade mark within the meaning of Section 2(1) (zg) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 (‘TM Act’). The Plaintiffs state that trade mark/service mark ‘Aaj Tak’ enjoys tremendous goodwill and reputation on account of the high quality of programming. It is stated that as on the week commencing 30th April 2005, ‘Aaj Tak’ had a total viewership of 19.4 million at an all-India level pointing to a market share of 25.5%. The expenses incurred by the Plaintiff No.1 in promoting the mark for the years 2000-01 to 2004-05 have been set out in para 6. The turnover figures for the same period have been set out in Para 7. For the year 2004-05 the turnover was Rs.1390.68 lakhs.
5. In addition to the above the Plaintiff has also domain name ‘www.aajtak.com’ to provide news through the internet and on which website the said mark and logo are depicted. The Plaintiffs own other domain names: www.aajtak.in, www.aajtak.co.in, www.aajtak.gen.in, www.aajtak.org.in, www.aajtak.net.in, and www.aajtak.ind.in.
6. It is stated that in 2005, the Plaintiffs discovered that the Defendants were publishing a Hindi newspaper depicting under the same word mark ‘Aaj Tak’. The Defendants had also registered an email address aajtakindia@rediffmail.com. The newspa
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