Trademark infringement occurs when identical trademarks are used on counterfeit goods, leading to public confusion and deception.

JUDGMENT

Sanjeev Narula, J. (Oral)--The present suit inter-alia seeks permanent injunction restraining infringement of Plaintiff's registered trademark, copyright, passing off, rendition of accounts, damages, delivery-up, among other ancillary reliefs.

2. Plaintiff No. 1 - `SanDisk LLC' (formerly `SanDisk Corporation'), a US corporation, registered in the State of Delaware, is engaged in the business of providing data storage solutions. It is one of the world's largest dedicated providers of flash memory storage solutions under the house mark `SanDisk' since the year-1995. As set out in the plaint, data storage solutions provided by Plaintiff No. 1 boasts of key essential elements being flash memory, controller and firmware technologies. Plaintiff No. 1's predecessor-in-title (`SanDisk Corporation') was acquired by Western Digital Corporation in May 2016, whereafter the name of Plaintiff No. 1 was changed to `SanDisk LLC'. Plaintiff No. 1 possesses trade mark registrations in more than 150 jurisdictions apart from India, including USA, European Community, China, Canada, etc. Plaintiff No. 1 claims to be proprietor of a variety of registered word and device marks registered under house mark `SanDisk'. Details of Plaintiff No. 1's registrations in respect of the word and device marks [hereinafter collectively referred to as "SanDisk Trademarks"] are set out below:

REGISTRATION NO.	TRADEMARK	DATE OF APPLICATION	CLASS
1249761	SanDisk	14th November, 2003	09
2632942		25th November, 2013	09
1805766		13th April, 2009	09
2261469	Cruzer Blade	04th January, 2012	09

3. Plaintiff No. 2 - SanDisk India Device Design Centre, is a sister concern of Plaintiff No. 1 and registered user of `SanDisk', `' and Red Frame Logo ['']. Plaintiffs' have marketed their products directly to retail consumers and enterprises as well as equipment makers since the year-2005. A joint application on behalf of Plaintiffs, under Form TM-U, has been filed before the Trade Marks Registry for recording Plaintiff No. 2 as Registered User of Plaintiff No. 1.

4. Plaintiffs' trademarks are extensively advertised and popularised. Plaintiff's SanDisk Trademarks enjoy immense goodwill and reputation. The High Court of Judicature at Bombay in Commercial IP Suit (L) No. 8349 of 2021 vide order dated 31st March, 2021,¹ prima facie found the mark `SanDisk' to have all attributes to qualify as a "well known trade mark", under Section 2(z)(g) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 [hereinafter "Trade Marks Act"].

5. Plaintiffs sell their memory cards and USB flash drives in a distinct and unique packaging, which constitutes as original "artistic work" within the meaning of Section 2(c) of the Copyright Act, 1957, and thus, are entitled to exclusive rights therein under Section 14(c) of the Copyright Act. Key elements of Plaintiffs' packaging include: (a) Red product packaging with white lettering; (b) Red frame logo [`'] describing the capacity of the device; and (c) SanDisk logo [`'].

6. Plaintiffs are aggrieved with Defendants indulging in unauthorized third-party distribution of counterfeit microSDHC cards and USB flash drives bearing Plaintiffs' registered trademarks `SanDisk', `' and Red Frame Logo [''] with identical packaging as that of Plaintiffs' products. Plaintiffs' acquired knowledge of use of the said marks by Defendants in September 2019. On receiving the above information and to ascertain the extent and identity of person(s) involved in manufacturing, selling and marketing of counterfeit produ