ORDER

Anish Dayal, J. - This order deals with the issue of rejection of plaint under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 ("CPC") which arose in the following context:

(i) Plaintiff filed the present suit claiming to be the proprietor of the trademarks "KARIM/KARIM'S/KAREEM" (word as well as device) and their trading name M/s. Karim Hotel Pvt. Ltd., of which the word 'KARIM' formed a prominent and essential feature. Plaintiff's founder, Haji Karimuddin, opened the first Karim Restaurant in 1913 near Jama Masjid, Delhi. Over a period of time, they gained extensive reputation for their high-quality Mughlai food and the said restaurant became iconic.

(ii) Plaintiff obtained registrations in these marks, around 50 in number, in various classes including Classes 16, 29, 30, 42, 43. Plaintiff also used the domain name www.karimhoteldelhi.com. Plaintiff came to know of defendant's use of the identical mark 'KAREEM'S' sometime in December 2014, and issued a legal notice in February 2015, which was responded to by defendant in March 2015.

(iii) Thereafter, plaintiff filed a suit being CS(OS) 1885/2015 (later renumbered as CS (COMM) 526/2016) titled "Karim Hotels Pvt. Ltd. v. K