The main legal point established in the judgment is the finding of willful disobedience of the court's injunction order by the respondent, leading to the imposition of a two-week simple imprisonment on the respondent's directors for contempt.

JUDGMENT

(Prayer: Contempt Petition filed under Section 11 of the Contempt of Courts Act 70 of 1971 to punish the respondent for contemptuous and willful disobedience of the injunction order dated 26.07.2018 passed by this Court in OSA.Nos.260/2015 against OS.Nos.1069, 1070 & 1071/2015 in CS.No.801/2015 which is subsisting till date.)

S.S. Sundar, J.

1. The above Contempt Petition is filed by plaintiff in the suit in C.S.No.801 of 2015, who is also the appellant in O.S.A.No.260, 261 and 262 of 2015, alleging willful disobedience of the order passed by this Court, dated 26.07.2018, in O.S.A.Nos.260, 261 and 262 of 2015.

2. Brief facts that are necessary for the disposal of this Contempt Petition are as follows :

a. The petitioner in the Contempt Petition is a company having its registered office at Kolkatta and branch office at Anna Salai, Chennai. The petitioner is a reputed company in cigarette business from 1910. The petitioner filed the suit in C.S.No.801 of 2015 for the following reliefs :

i. a permanent injunction restraining the defendant themselves, their directors, successors-in-business, servants, agents, distributors, dealers, stockists, wholesalers, retailers, shop keepers, representatives, assigns and all other persons claiming through them from manufacturing, selling and distributing, advertising cigarettes and/or other rallied and cognate goods amounting to infringement of the plaintiff''s registered trademarks and in violation of the undertaking given in CS.No.477/1990 and CS.No.478/1990 and the Consent Decree passed in CS.No.477/1990 and CS.No.478/1990 in any manner whatsoever.

ii. A permanent injunction restraining the defendant themselves, their directors, successors-in-business, servants, agents, distributors, dealers, stockists, wholesalers, retailers, shop keepers, representatives, assigns and all other persons claiming through them from manufacturing, selling and distributing, advertising cigarettes and/or other rallied and cognate goods amounting to passing off their goods as and for the goods of the plaintiff or as being in some way connected with the plaintiff and/or in any manner whatsoever ;

iii. restraining the defendant themselves, their directors, successors-in-business, servants, agents, distributors, dealers, stockists, wholesalers, retailers, shop keepers, representatives, assigns and all other persons claiming through them from manufacturing, selling and distributing, advertising cigarettes and/or other rallied and cognate goods from committing acts of copyright infringement by making substantial reproduction of the plaintiff''s copyright in the Gold Flake labels by use of identical and / or deceptively similar colour scheme and/or in any manner whatsoever ;

iv. the defendant be ordered to surrender the plaintiff''s for destruction all goods advertisement materials, packing materials, cartons, wrappers, labels in respect of cigarettes and other allied/cognate goods containing the offending label or any other mark similar to plaintiff''s trademark/labels Gold Flake;

v. the defendant be ordered to pay to the plaintiff a sum of Rs.1,00,00,000/- as damages for committing acts of infringement of trademark and passing off ;

vi. a preliminary decree be passed in favour of the plaintiff directing the defendants to render true and faithful account of profits earned by them by use of offending label for cigarettes, and a final decree be passed in favour of the plaintiffs for the amount of profits thus found to have been made by the defendants after the latter have rendered accounts ;

vii. for entire costs of the suit and

viii. pass such further and other orders as this Hon''ble Court may deem fit and necessary under the facts and circumstance