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2023 Supreme(Del) 5616

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Prathiba M. Singh, J.
Aero Club - Appellant
Versus
M/s Sahara Belts - Respondent
CS(COMM) 189 of 2019, I.As. 5370 of 2019 & 8280 of 2023
Decided On : 22-11-2023

Advocates appeared:
Mr. Prithvi Singh, Ms. Devyani Nath, Advocates, for the Plaintiff.
Mr. Bhuvneshwar Tyagi, Advocate, for the Defendant.

IMPORTANT POINT
The judgment establishes the application of summary judgment in cases where a party lacks substantive defense and the evidence supports the claim of infringement.

Headnote:

Counterfeiting - Trademark - Copyrights Act, 1957 - Order XIII-A CPC, 1908.

Fact of the Case:

The Plaintiff sought an injunction against the Defendant for manufacturing and selling counterfeit products bearing the registered trademark 'WOODLAND'. The Defendant was found selling infringing products with an identical 'WOODLAND' mark, logo, and tree device. The Defendant's written statement lacked substantive defense, and the Court invoked the principles of summary judgment.

Finding of the Court:

The Defendant was found guilty of counterfeiting and selling counterfeit products with the Plaintiff's trademark. The Defendant's defense was deemed baseless and untenable, and the Court passed a summary judgment in favor of the Plaintiff, granting a permanent injunction and awarding damages and costs.

Issues: Counterfeiting of trademark, lack of substantive defense, invocation of summary judgment, and assessment of damages and costs.

Ratio Decidendi: The Court invoked the principles of summary judgment as the Defendant lacked substantive defense and the evidence supported the Plaintiff's claim. The report of the Local Commissioner was relied upon as unchallenged evidence, and damages were awarded based on deliberate and calculated infringement.

Final Decision: The suit was decreed in favor of the Plaintiff, granting a permanent injunction, and awarding damages and costs against the Defendant.

JUDGMENT

Prathiba M. Singh, J.

1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

Brief Facts

2. The present suit relates to the trademark `WOODLAND'. The Plaintiff, filed the present suit, seeking an injunction against the Defendant, restraining them from manufacturing, offering for sale, selling, advertising, directly or indirectly any products bearing the registered trademark `WOODLAND' of the Plaintiff.

3. The Plaintiff adopted the said mark in the year 1992 along with a distinctive device. The said mark is used for manufacture, sale and export of various products including footwear, apparel products, lifestyle products like belts, wallets, shoes, shirts, T-shirts etc. The mark `WOODLAND', `WDL', `TREE device' and `WOODLAND' label are registered by the Plaintiff. The details of the registrations are set out in paragraph 7 of the plaint which are extracted below:

Regn/Appln No.TrademarkDate of Appln/User Date:ClassStatus573949Date of Appln: 25/05/1992 User Date: 21/05/199225Registered710548Date of Appln: 23/07/1996 User Date: 31/12/199325Registered710551Date of Appln: 23/07/1996 User Date: 01/01/199325Registered1487602Date of Appln: 15/09/2006 User Date: 01/01/199318Registered1547117Date of Appln: 05/04/200741Registered1547769Date of Appln: 09/04/2007 User date: 17/01/199335Registered1547771Date of Appln: 09/04/200737Registered1877596Date of Appln: 28/10/200932Registered1867259Date of Appln: 25/09/2009 User date: 31/05/200725Registered3727313Date of Appln: 15/01/2018 User date: 22/01/201425Registered1029555Date of Appln: 23/07/200125Registered

4. The said marks are created by the Plaintiff with enormous precision as has been explained in paragraph 11 of the Plaint, which is extracted below:

    "11. That the 'Tree Device' of the Plaintiff consists of a combination of 18 leaves that are carefully structured and uniquely designed to give it a distinctive overall get up. The 'Woodland Label' comprises of the word 'WOODLAND' wherein the first letter 'W' and the last letter 'D' are written in a larger font than the rest of the letters. The 'Tree device' bearing 18 leaves arranged in a distinctive manner also appears in the centre of the said label mark."

5. It is also averred that the `Tree Device' and `Woodland Label' of the Plaintiff are also protected for its original artistic works under section 2 (c) of the Copyrights Act, 1957.

6. The `WOODLAND' trademarks as per the Plaintiff have acquired extensive goodwill and reputation. The domestic sales of the Plaintiff under the `WOODLAND' trademark for the financial year 2017-18 are stated to be almost Rs.1000 crores. The `WOODLAND' marks have also been advertised in national newspapers. A substantial amount of Rs.17 crores has been incurred on promotion in the year 2017-18 for promoting and advertising the mark.

7. The Defendant is M/s Sahara Belts, having its office at 2322-A, Ground Floor, Navyug Guest House, Near Rui Mandi, Sadar Bazar, New Delhi-110006. The Plaintiff learnt about the Defendant sometime in March, 2019, that it has been selling counterfeit `WOODLAND' products, and so it appointed an Investigator. The said Investigator's report revealed that the shop is owned by one Mr. Javed Alam who is marketing and selling counterfeit products i.e., belts, belt-buckles and wallets bearing the registered `WOODLAND' mark. The Investigator also effected purchase of the products at Rs.32/-, Rs.42/- and Rs.140/- for three belts which he had purchased. The kaccha invoice has also been placed on record. The investigator also observed that the Defendant shop had a warehouse located on the same premises. In view thereof, the Plaintiff filed the present case.

8. The Court, vide an order dated 12th April, 2019, passed an ex-parte ad interim injunction and appointed a local commissioners to effect a search and seizure of the infringing products at the Defendant's premises in the following terms:

    "11. The plaintiff, on the basis of the averments made in the plaint and documents filed therewith has made

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