ORDER

Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral). - This hearing has been done through hybrid mode. LA. 3107/2022 (for stay)

2. The Plaintiff has filed the present suit seeking permanent injunction, restraining infringement of trademark, passing off, dilution, unfair competition, delivery up, rendition of accounts, damages, and other reliefs in respect of the trademark 'PLANT POWERED'.

3. The case of the Plaintiff is that it was incorporated in the year 2016, and over the years, it has sold various baby care and personal care products which are natural and eco-friendly, including detergent, lotions, face wash, face cream, sunscreen face mask etc., under the trademark 'PLANT POWERED'. The trademark 'PLANT POWERED' was adopted by the Plaintiff in the year 2019, and has been using the said trademark along with

4. The sales of the Plaintiffs products since the year 2019 is claimed to be Rs.5.95 crores, and the promotional expenses are claimed to be over Rs.4 crores. Various products of the Plaintiff have also been duly licenced under The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

5. The grievance of the Plaintiff, in the present case, is that the Defendant No. 1 - Mr. Aayush Gupta, who is also running two entities which are known by the names 'Plant Powered' and 'Bo International', applied for the registration of the mark(PLANT POWERED) with a flower logo. The said application was filed on 29th December, 2020 in Class 3 on a 'proposed to be used' basis. The said mark proceeded for registration and the Plaintiff has now filed a rectification seeking cancellation of the said mark.

6. As per the Plaintiff, upon gaining knowledge of the said registration, the Plaintiff conducted a market survey and found a number of Defendant's products on the e-commerce platform www.amazon.in ("Amazon"). The details of the said products, along with product codes, and Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) are also set out in the plaint.

7. Mr. Sethi, Id. Senior Counsel appearing for the Plaintiff has made the following submissions:

i. A cease and desist notice was issued by the Plaintiff on 1st February, 2022. However, the Defendant did not respond to the same. Upon receiving the cease and desist notice, the Defendant wrote a complaint to Amazon, raising a grievance against the Plaintiffs products, which resulted in an email being sent to the Plaintiff on 8th February, 2022. Subsequent emails were also received from Amazon, and the Plaintiffs products were delisted from Amazon. Thus, the Defendant chose not to reply to the legal notice, but parallelly, took action against the Plaintiff which had addressed the legal notice to the Defendant. He submits that this shows the mala fide and dishonest nature of the Defendant's conduct.

ii. The Defendant is also using the name 'PLANT POWERED' as a trading style for identical goods. The domain name www.plantpowered.in has also been registered on 9th October,2021. In view of the dates on which the trademark applications were filed and the domain name was registered, it is submitted that the Plaintiff is the prior user and adopter of the mark in respect of identical products.

iii. It is also brought to the notice of this Court that the invoices which have been placed on record by the Defendant to plead user in the year 2020 are also completely manipulated and fabricated inasmuch as the corresponding e-way bills, which can be downloaded from the GST portal, would show that the mark 'PLANT POWERED' is not reflected in the corresponding e-way bill. Thus, it is submitted that strict action is liable to be taken against the Defendant for filing such manipulated and forged documents.

iv. The website of the Defendant i.e., www.plantpowered.in, as on 21st February, 2022, merely mentioned 'Opening Soon1. On the website www.boessentialoil.com as well, there was no reflection of any product by the name 'PLANT POWERED'.

8. On the other hand, Ms. Mukherjee, Id. Counsel on behalf of the Defendant, makes the following submissions:

i. The term 'PLANT POWERED'