Trademark protection serves both the individual brand owner's interests and the consumer's right to accurate product representation, especially in cases of counterfeiting.

JUDGMENT :

Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)--This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

2. The present suit for permanent injunction and damages for infringement of marks, passing off, unfair competition has been filed by the Plaintiff-LT Foods Limited against the Defendant-M/s. Saraswati Trading Company. The Plaintiff is engaged in the business of processing, marketing and exporting food products including rice. The annual turnover of the Plaintiff is over Rs.2,000 crores in the financial year 2020-2021 and it is amongst the top 50 food processing companies in North India as per the Dun and Bradstreet survey.

3. The case of the Plaintiff is that it has a strong distribution network in all major Basmati Rice consuming cities in India as also in foreign countries including USA, Canada, UK and EU. Some of the well-known brands used by the Plaintiff are HERITAGE, DAWAT, DAAWAT, DAAWAT DEVAYA, DAAWAT BESTOW, ORANGE, DEVAAYA, CHEF'S SECRET, SONA, ROYAL, etc.

4. The present suit relates to the trademarks `DAWAT'/`DAAWAT' used in respect of rice. The said marks are registered by the Plaintiff in both word mark and device mark form since 1987. Details of the registrations of the Plaintiff are set out below:

S. No.	Mark	Registration No.	Year
1.	Dawat in Class 30	483041	1987
2.	Daawat in Class 29	1294427	2004
3.	Daawat Devaaya in Class 30	1421838	2006
4.	Daawat Bestow in Class 30	1421839	2006
5.		763066	1997
6.		763067	1997

5. The mark `DAWAT' itself was adopted in 1985 by one M/s Lal Chand Tirath Ram Rice Mills. The said mark was later assigned to the Plaintiff-company in 2003. The mark `DAWAT' is also registered in several foreign countries such as Australia, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, China, Colombia, Iraq (Kurdistan region), European Union, Gambia, Iran, Israel, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, UAE, United Kingdom, Yemen and USA.

6. The Plaintiff's case is that owing to the strict quality control standards maintained by it, the products under the marks `DAWAT'/`DAAWAT' have attained enormous goodwill and reputation not only in India but in several countries of the world. According to the Plaintiff, the marks `DAWAT'/`DAAWAT' are well-known marks having achieved considerable sales turnover of more than Rs. 700 crores in 2020-2021. The sales promotion is claimed to be to the tune of Rs.33 crores in the year 2020-21 in respect of the said marks.

7. The Plaintiff also pleads that it has filed various actions to protect its marks, details of which are as under:

"i. In CS (COMM) No. 491 of 2019 titled LT Foods Limited v Narwal Foods Products Private Limited, the Plaintiff had filed a suit before the Hon'ble Delhi High Court against an entity by the name of Narwal Foods Products Private Limited for unlicensed/unauthorized usage of its trademarks and the infringement of trademark and copyright vested in its DAWAT and related marks. Pertinently, while granting an ad-interim injunction in the favour of the Plaintiff, the Hon'ble Court held that the Defendant by adopting the mark `INDIA DAWAT', which predominantly contains the Plaintiff's trademark `DAWAT' is infringing the Plaintiff's trademark and passing off its goods as that of the plaintiff.

ii. In CS (COMM) No. 25 of 2020 titled as LT Foods v RBAK Agro India Pvt. Ltd., the Plaintiff had filed a suit before the Hon'ble Delhi High Court against an entity by the name of RBAK Agro India Pvt. Ltd. for unlicensed/unauthorized usage of its trademarks and the infringement of trademark and copyright vested in its DAWAT and related marks. Pertinently, the Hon'ble Court held that the Defendant by adopting