IMPORTANT POINT
The main legal point established in the judgment is the interpretation of the definition of Intellectual Property Rights and the jurisdiction of the Delhi High Court IP Division in disputes involving franchise agreements and intellectual property.

JUDGMENT

Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)

1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

2. Mr. Rajive Bhalla, ld. Sr. counsel for the Defendants raises a preliminary objection that the present suit is a contractual dispute and not a trademark dispute as it arises out of the franchise agreements dated 22nd February, 2019 and 11th July, 2021. He submits that the same is admitted by the Plaintiff in its Replication to the written statement of Defendant nos. 1-2. It is pointed out by Mr. Bhalla, ld. Sr. counsel that the Plaintiff clearly states in the Replication that the present suit is not in relation to a trademark dispute as there is a suit which has already been filed in respect of the trademark registration and common law rights before the Commercial Court, Saket being M/s Shree Rathnam Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. & Anr. v. M/s Garib Nawaz Industries Pvt. Ltd., CS(COMM) 607/ 2022, between the Plaintiff and Defendant No.5.

3. Mr. Ravi Gupta submits that the present suit is based on the Franchisee agreement by which the Defendant no.1 was given the right to use the Plaintiff's intellectual property as defined in the agreement. Thus, this Court has jurisdiction to hear the present suit. The Court has heard submissions on the preliminary objection raised.

4. The definition of the Intellectual Property under the Delhi High Court Intellectual Property Rights Division Rules, 2022 is as under:

"(i) "Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) subject matter" for the purpose of these Rules, shall include:

i. Matters pertaining to Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks, Geographical Indications, Plant Varieties, Designs, Semiconductor integrated circuit layout-designs, Traditional Knowledge and all rights under common law, if any, associated therewith;

ii Matters relating to passing off, acts of unfair competition, disparagement, comparative advertising etc.;

iii. Protection of trade secrets, confidential information and related subject matters;

iv. Tortious actions related to privacy and publicity rights involving intellectual property issues;

v. Matters pertaining data exclusivity, domain names and other matters relating to data protection involving intellectual property issues, as also those arising under the Act(s) as defined in Rule 2(a);

vi. Matters involving internet violations relating to any of the subject matters under clauses (i) through (v) above.

Explanation:

(i) for the purpose of these Rules, cases pertaining to the Information Technology Act, 2000 dealing with the rights and liabilities of intermediaries, online market places, e-commerce platforms involving issues relating to any of the aforementioned subject matters, shall be deemed to be within the purview of intellectual property rights.;

(ii) intermediaries, online market places, e-commerce platforms shall be interpreted in terms of the definition contained in Section 2(w) of the Information Technology Act, 2000."

5. A perusal of the same would show that the matters pertaining to trademarks irrespective of whether the same would be on the basis of statutory or common law rights or contractual matters would be covered in the definition of `Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) subject matter' under the Delhi High Court Intellectual Property Rights Division Rules, 2022 and shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Delhi High Court IP Division.

6. In the present case, the definition of Intellectual Property in the franchise agreements is quite wide. The same is extracted below:

"17. Intellectual Property; shall mean and include, all marks, copyrights, patents, patent applications, trade secrets and other intellectual property rights of the Franchisor and/or of its affiliates, group companies in, upon or in relation to the Trade Marks, are all exclusive and proprietary to Franchisor and any of the content or matter or form of decoration, presentation available, and to be made available at any time, and from time to time at the Outlet, whether pursuant hereto or otherwise.

2.3 Ownership

i) Except for right to