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C. HARI SHANKAR
Novateur Electrical & Digital Systems Pvt. Ltd. – Appellant
Versus
V-guard Industries Ltd. – Respondent
JUDGMENT (Oral)
C. Hari Shankar, J.
CC(Comm) 2/2022
1. By this order, I proceed to decide the preliminary objection advanced by Mr. Hemant Singh, learned Counsel for the plaintiff to the maintainability of CC (Comm) 2/2022, which is the counter claim filed by the defendant in the present suit.
2. The present suit [CS(COMM) 567/2021] alleges piracy, by the defendant, of the designs registered in favour of the plaintiff vide Registration Nos. 296178, 296179 and 296180 ('the suit designs') and seeks reliefs of injunction against the plaintiff from directly or indirectly dealing in the switch plates manufactured by the plaintiff, which allegedly infringe the suit designs.
3. Among the defences taken in the written statement filed by the defendants, to the plaint, is the plea that the suit designs are invalid on the ground of prior publication.
4. During the pendency of these proceedings, the defendant has filed the present counter claim CC (Comm) 2/2022, seeking cancellation, and expunction from the Register of Designs, of the suit designs 296178, 296179 and 296180. The defendant has also filed, with the counter claim, an application under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Ci
The main legal point established in the judgment is the maintainability of a counter claim seeking cancellation of registered designs under Section 19 of the Designs Act.
Jurisdiction under the Designs Act, 2000 cannot be ousted merely on basis of cancellation pleas unless substantive grounds are presented, justifying transfer to higher courts.
The Designs Act, 2000 mandates that cancellation petitions must be filed with the Controller, not the High Court, thereby limiting the jurisdiction of the High Court in such matters.
The onus to prove lack of novelty or originality in a design as a ground of defence against design piracy lies with the defendants, and unsubstantiated claims cannot invalidate the plaintiff's copyri....
The court established the validity of the registered design, the infringement by the defendant, and the entitlement to rendition of accounts. The court's decision was influenced by the interpretation....
Prior publication must be proven with tangible evidence; foreign registration alone does not invalidate a design registered in India.
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