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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI
Manmohan Singh, J.
M/S ECOLAB INC — Appellant
Vs.
M/S EACO LABS LTD — Respondent
C.S. (OS) No. 2248 of 2007
Decided On : 28-11-2011
Trade Marks - Infringement - Trade Marks Act, 1999, Section 134, 135
Fact of the Case:
The plaintiff, a corporation under the Laws of United States of America, filed a suit for permanent injunction under the Trade Marks Act, 1999, alleging infringement, passing off, damages, and rendition of account against the defendant. The plaintiff claimed exclusive rights over the registered trade mark 'Ecolab' and alleged that the defendant unlawfully adopted and used the same mark, causing losses to the plaintiff.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the plaintiff had exclusive rights over the registered trade mark 'Ecolab' and that the defendant's use of the mark constituted infringement. The court granted a decree for permanent injunction in favor of the plaintiff and awarded costs of the suit to the plaintiff.
Issues: The issues involved in the case included the alleged infringement of the registered trade mark 'Ecolab' by the defendant, the validity of the plaintiff's registrations, and the defendant's prior use of the mark.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the plaintiff, being the registered proprietor of the trade mark, was entitled to a decree for permanent injunction against the defendant for infringing the trade mark 'Ecolab'. The court also rejected the defendant's claims and awarded costs of the suit to the plaintiff.
Final Decision: The court granted a decree for permanent injunction in favor of the plaintiff and awarded costs of the suit to the plaintiff.
JUDGMENT :
Manmohan Singh, J.
1. This is a suit u/s 134 and 135 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 for permanent injunction to restrain infringement, passing off, damages and rendition of account.
CASE OF THE PLAINTIFF AS PER PLAINT
2. The plaintiff is a corporation under the Laws of United States of America. It was incorporated in the year 1924 with the name and style of Economic Laboratory and in the year 1986 it was changed to M/s Ecolab Inc. Mr. Edward R. Courtney, Trademark Attorney is the authorized signatory.
3. The plaintiff is into a business of manufacture and trade of premium cleaning, pest elimination and repair products having wide application in the hospitality, food service, healthcare and industrial markets and other areas as well.
4. Apart from the above services the plaintiff manufactures and markets numerous products which include detergents, instruments care, skin care, surgical scrub, surface disinfectants and other things.
5. Since 1924, the plaintiff has been engaged in the said business. In year 1986 the plaintiff bonafidely adopted and changed its name or word mark "Ecolab" from "Economic Laboratories". Since then the plaintiff has been using the said trade name and house mark under the said style as an essential part of its corporate name and a house mark in relation to its goods and business.
6. With the advent of e-commerce, the said Ecolab trade name/trade mark has been used by the plaintiff in the domain of www.ecolabs.com and has been since associated with good business and goodwill.
7. The details of the said trade mark Ecolab is duly registered in India in favour of the plaintiff. The details of the trademarks of the plaintiff are herein mentioned below:
| 1 | Trade name | Ecolab |
| Application No. | 461913 | |
| Date | 17th October 1986 | |
| Class | 1 | |
| Goods | Chemical products used in industry, detergents for use in industrial and manufacturing process, cleaning composition for industrial purposes, chemical products used in laundries and ware washing process, water treatment chemicals, chemicals for treating fabrics, chemical degreasing agents, antistatic and anti fog preparation; chemical oil and fuel additives; surfactants; de-scalers; catalysts; industrial solvents; corrosives; metal conditions; chemical machine fluids; phocphatizres. | |
| Journal | 980 | |
| 2 | Trade name | Ecolab |
| Application No | 461914 | |
| Date | 17th October 1986 | |
| Class | 3 | |
| Goods | Bleaching preparation and other substances for laundry use; cleaning; polishing; scouring and abrasive preparations; stain removing preparation, paint removing preparation; soaps, detergents; fabric softeners; rising agents; laundry starch; cleaning solvents. | |
| Journal | 979 | |
| 3 | Trade name | Ecolab |
| Application No | 461915 | |
| Date | 17th October 1986 | |
| Class | 5 | |
| Goods | Preparation for killing weeds and destroying vermins, herbicides, fungicides, parasiticides, bactericides, germicides, insecticides, slimicides,, veterinary and sanitary substance, disinfectants, sanitizers, deodorants, air fresheners, insect repellants. | |
| Journal | 970 | |
| 4 | Trade name | Ecolab |
| Application No | 461916 | |
| Date | 17th October 1986 | |
| Class | 7 | |
| Goods | Laundry and ware washing machines, machinery for cleaning, polishing and scrubbing parts and accessories therefore are being goods includes in class 7. | |
| Journal | 1001 | |
| 5 | Trade name | Ecolab |
| Application No | 461917 | |
| Date | 17th October 1986 | |
| Class | 9 | |
| Goods | Mechanical electric and electronic apparatus to measure and/or dispense liquid, powdered of solid chemicals, detergents, cleaning and rinsing agents, parts and accessories. | |
| Journal | 979 |
8. Plaintiff states that the above registrations are legal, regular and in full force. By this registration the
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