The court established that the unauthorized use of identical trademarks constitutes infringement and passing off, justifying a permanent injunction and awarding damages to the rightful trademark owners.

JUDGMENT

Jyoti Singh, J. (Oral)--Present suit has been filed by the Plaintiffs seeking permanent injunction restraining Defendant No. 1 and anyone acting on its behalf from using Plaintiffs' trademarks `Indiabulls', `Dhani', `Potli' (device mark) `', logo and the domain name www.indiabullsdhani.com, separately or in combination, in relation to its services, especially, financial and transactional, amounting to infringement, passing off, unfair competition, dilution as well as for delivery up and damages.

2. It is averred that Plaintiffs are part of the renowned Indiabulls Group of Companies and have an established presence in India as well as internationally, since 1994, as a financial services conglomerate. Combined revenue of the Indiabulls Group for the year 2017-2018 was over Rs.22,000 Crores, of which Plaintiffs No. 1 and 2 contributed to more than Rs.16,000 Crores.

3. It is further averred that Plaintiffs No. 1 and 3 are the registered proprietors of the trademark `INDIABULLS' in various classes including Class 36. Plaintiff No. 2 is the registered proprietor of the trademark `DHANI' and its variations in several classes, including classes 9 and 36, as well as registered proprietor of the trademark (device) `' in class 9. The trademark `DHANI' was conceptualised and coined by Plaintiff No. 2 for launching personal loans, finance and services application on the website www.indiabullsdhani.com and through a mobile application. Trademark `DHANI', with/without device is the essential part of various registered trademarks of the Plaintiffs and has been extensively and continuously used since 2017. Details of Plaintiffs' registrations for `DHANI' and/or bearing the device mark are furnished in the plaint.

4. It is further averred that Plaintiffs adopted the trademark `INDIABULLS' in January 2000 as part of their Corporate name as well as for their wide range of goods and services and have been continuously and extensively used since then. `INDIABULLS' is not only a trademark but a brand identity of the Plaintiffs and has been used with respect to financial and other services since inception of the Plaintiffs' companies. Plaintiffs have extensively promoted and advertised their trademarks. Promotional expenses for the years 2017-2019 are as under:

5. It is averred that Plaintiffs make their services available online through the website having the domain name www.indiabullsdhani.com, which has been registered since 2017 and is fully operational. The domain name is exclusively associated with the Plaintiffs and the services provided by them and no other party has a right to adopt or use the same as a domain name or trademark in any manner, which is identical or deceptively similar to that of the Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs have been vigilant in protecting their registered trademarks against third parties and have an ex parte ad interim injunction in CS(COMM) 626/2019 as well as a decree in CS(COMM) 590/2017, in their favour.

6. It is further averred that Defendant No. 1 is operating a fake and fraudulent website under the domain name www.dhanifinance.in, through which it is offering financial services, similar to those of the Plaintiffs, to the consumers, under the Plaintiffs' trademarks `INDIABULLS', `DHANI', (device) and its variants. The said website displays Plaintiffs' trademarks as well as various details and information about Plaintiff No. 2, in order to mislead customers into believing that the said website is of the Plaintif