JUDGMENT (Oral)

C. Hari Shankar, J.

I.A. 9418/2023 (condonation of delay of 15 days in filing replication)

1. For the reasons stated therein, the delay in filing replication is condoned.

2. The application stands disposed of.

I.A. 20611/2022 (under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of CPC)

3. The plaintiff alleges infringement, by the defendant, of its registered trade mark, registered w.e.f. 11 January 2012 in class 43, for all kinds of restaurants, bars, snack bars, hotels, cafeterias and canteens.

4. The plaintiff's mark is [IMG]. The defendant was, till 2019, using the mark WOW! CHINA, depicted as [IMG].

5. In 2019, however, the defendant added, below the word China in the logo, the word "BISTRO". The mark, thus, became [IMG].

6. The plaintiff's case is that with the addition of "BISTRO" below "CHINA" in the mark [IMG], the defendant's mark became deceptively similar to that of the plaintiff, inasmuch as both now read CHINA BISTRO, with the "WOW!" above "CHINA" in the defendant's mark being the only differentiating feature. The plaintiff's case is that this added word "WOW!" would not in any way mitigate the possibility of confusion or deception between the two marks, from the point