Registered trademark holders have exclusive rights and can seek injunction against unauthorized use that causes consumer confusion, with presumption of confusion if the trademarks are identical.

JUDGMENT

Jyoti Singh, J. (Oral)--By way of the present suit, Plaintiff seeks a decree of permanent injunction restraining the Defendant, its proprietors, etc., from manufacturing, selling, advertising, etc., any products/services under the impugned tradename/mark RANBAXY LABORATORIES or any other trademark, tradename, domain name, identical or deceptively similar to Plaintiff's trademark RANBAXY or RANBAXY LABORATORIES, amounting to infringement and passing off as well as decree for damages, rendition of accounts and delivery up.

2. It is averred in the plaint that Plaintiff (the expression includes predecessors in business and title) is a Company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013 and started its business of marketing pharma products as a proprietary firm in the year 1978. In 1982, a partnership firm under the name and style of M/s Sun Pharmaceutical Industries was formed to manufacture, deal in and trade into pharmaceutical goods and allied goods and services. On 01.03.1993, the partnership firm was converted into a Joint Stock Company and incorporated as a Company under the present name.

3. It is averred that in the year 2014, vide a duly approved Scheme of Arrangement, Plaintiff acquired all assets along with intellectual property of Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical Companies. The Scheme was duly approved and sanctioned by the High Court of Gujarat vide order dated 24.12.2014, in Company Petition No. 219 of 2014 and by the order of High Court of Punjab and Haryana vide order dated 09.03.2015 in Company Petition Nos. 132 and 165 of 2014, in a separate litigation. Plaintiff, by virtue of the said orders, is the recorded proprietor of trademarks earlier owned by Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited.

4. It is averred that Plaintiff markets drugs and formulations in more than 150 countries of the world under its extensive range of well-known and distinctive trademarks/brand names. Plaintiff has a consolidated annual turnover of over Rs.30,000 Crores, globally and is now ranked as number one pharma company in India in a total of 11 specialities and is the world's fourth largest generic pharma company. Plaintiff can boast off having 45 manufacturing sites in six continents and ten world-class research centres.

5. It is further averred that Plaintiff's manufacturing operations are focussed on producing generics, Over-the-Counter products, anti-retrovirals, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients and intermediates in the full range of dosage forms including tablets, capsules, injectables, creams etc. Plaintiff has a highly skilled team of regulatory affairs specialists, well-versed with regulatory policies and procedures as also a wide range of regulatory agencies who routinely conduct stringent audits of the manufacturing facilities to ensure compliance with Current Good Manufacturing Practices.

6. It is stated that Plaintiff's predecessors, Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited adopted the tradename RANBAXY in the year 1961 and filed an application for registration in the year 1991, claiming user since 1966 and has been extensively and continuously using the same since then. Vide order dated 19.10.2015, the said mark was assigned to the Plaintiff. Today, Plaintiff is a proprietor of trademarks `RANBAXY', `RANBAXY LABORATORIES LIMITED' and its formative marks in India as well as in foreign jurisdictions, the details whereof are furnished in the plaint.

7. It is further stated that Plaintiff has taken efforts to popularize its trademark/corporate name and has expended substantial sums of money on sales promotion, advertisement and publicity of the same. Due to continuous and extensive use of the marks and large sales of goods under the trademark RANBAXY, it has acquired immense reputation and goodwill, reflected from the sales turnover of the predecessor-in-interest of the Plaintiff for the year 2013-14, prior to the Scheme of Arrangement, being Rs.3,000 Crores approximately in India and approxim