JUDGMENT

Prathiba M. Singh, J. Is the Defendants' adoption of the mark IKEA a `mere idea' or is it much more?

2. The present suit for injunction and damages in respect of the mark `IKEA' was instituted by the Plaintiffs. Vide order dated 13th December, 2017, a preliminary decree has already been passed in respect of the prayers seeking injunction in terms of paragraphs 31(a) and (b). The matter remained pending in respect of the remaining prayers for rendition of accounts, delivery up and damages.

3. Learned counsel for the Plaintiffs made submissions on the aspect of damages on 28th August, 2018, and has filed a computation. On 30th August, 2018, partner of the Defendant No.3, IKEA Industries, appeared and his statement was recorded.

4. The brief case of the Plaintiffs is that Plaintiff No. 1 is a company incorporated in the Netherlands. It has an Indian subsidiary, Ikea Trading (India) Pvt. Ltd -Plaintiff no.2.

5. The Plaintiffs deal with a wide range of affordable home furnishing products and have supplied several retailers, offering a full range of services. According to the Plaintiffs, the mark `IKEA' was coined in the year 1943 from the names of the founder, Ingvar Kamprad and the first letters of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm and village where he grew up. According to the Plaintiffs, the first `IKEA' store was opened in 1958 in Sweden, and thereafter, expansion has taken place across the world. By 2009, the Plaintiffs had 267 stores in 25 countries. The mark `IKEA' is a registered trademark in India, both in English, Hindi and in the logo form. The total sales revenue of the Plaintiff Group for the year 2013 was close to 29.2 billion euros.

6. The Plaintiffs came to know that the Defendants had started using the domain name www.ikeaindustries.com and had a partnership firm named Ikea Industries (Defendant No.3). The same was promoted by Defendant No.1 and 2 who are father and son, who also run the firm M/s. Shilpa Metal Industries, Defendant No.4. The Defendants deal in automobile spare parts. On the website of the Defendants, it was claimed as under:

"Ikea Industries started with a dream in 2014--the dream to be the leaders in Auto parts and Non-Ferrous, Die castings components for the automotive industry."

7. Accordingly, the present suit was filed seeking an injunction against the use of the mark `IKEA' as a trade mark and part of the trading style, the domain name www.ikeaindustries.com, and for damages.

8. An ex-parte ad interim injunction was granted against the Defendants on 22nd December, 2014 and a Local Commissioner was also appointed to visit the Defendants' premises. The Local Commissioner seized a large stock of "IKEA" branded products. The inventory prepared by the Local Commissioner is as under:

" DETAILED INVENTORY REPORT