IMPORTANT POINT
Person aggrieved, synonymous with expression locus standi.

S. Ravindra Bhat, J.—These appeals, under Section 72 of the Copyright Act, 1957, challenge the order of the Learned Copyright Board (hereinafter the Board) dated 04.04.2011, which expunged registration numbers A-51334/91, A-55885/99, and A-55885/99 upon the petition filed on 23.01.07 by the respondent/Applicant, Sudhir Bhatia (hereinafter, “the respondent”). The ground in support of the appeal is that inter alia, the Board mis-applied Section 15(2) of the Copyright Act, 1957 in the facts and circumstances of the case.

2. The appellants (hereafter called “Midas”) claim to be pioneers in insecticides and pesticide production in the form of chalks in India. After conceiving the idea and testing it, Midas launched commercial activity under the trademarks “Krazy Lines” and “Laxman Rekha” (hereafter “the trademarks”) approximately in 1989. The trademarks were registered, bearing Nos. 545608 and 54610 respectively in 1991, and the packaging material of the products was registered under No. A-51334/91 of the Copyright Act.

3. The respondent was employed by the appellants from 1985 as he was a close relative of a director, Mr. S. S. Kapoor. In 1992, he started production of identical chalks under the trademarks “Krazy Lines” and “Laxman Rekha”, pursuant to which a legal notice was served upon him on 28.02.1992, which was replied to by him. When such production activity continued in 1994, criminal proceedings were initiated against the respondent. Later that year, upon the insistence of family members, an agreement was signed between the opposing parties, which, inter alia, stipulated the abandonment of the trademarks “Krazy Lines” and “Laxman Rekha” by both the appellant and the respondent, after 30.06.1994.

4. The agreement, however, was breached, in the first instance, by the respondent, after which the appellant also found it expedient in their business’ interests to flout its terms and continue production of the insecticide and pesticide chalks. Thereafter, Midas filed Suit No. 1821/1999 against the respondent before this Court. The matter, after being heard by a Single Judge and later, a Division Bench the Court, was eventually decided by the Supreme Court of India on 22.01.2004, restraining the respondent from using the said trademarks, during pendency of the suit on the file of this Court. The Supreme Court held that the cartons used by the respondent was “almost identical” to that of the appellant. The Court held that the respondent was unable to explain why such a mark was used and that this indicated a prima facie dishonest intention.

5. After these developments, the respondent filed a Rectification Petition Nos. F 1-6/ 2007-CRB (WZ); F1-23/2007-CRB (WZ) and F1-24/2007-CRB (WZ) seeking cancellation of the copyright numbered A-55884/99 (copyright for ‘KRAZY LINES’); A-55885/99 (copyright for ‘LAXMAN REKHA’) and A-55334/91 (copyright for ‘LAXMAN REKHA’ and ‘KRAZY LINES’) before the Board claiming to be the rightful proprietor of the said trademarks, and challenging the said registration on several grounds such as non-compliance with Rule 16 of the Copyright Rules, 1958, lack of originality in the artistic works of Midas, the lack of proper assignment between Midas and its predecessor-in-title. The Board ordered cancellation of the copyrights in the order dated 04.04.2011, which is the subject matter of these appeals.

6. The Copyright Board, which made the impugned orders, directing cancellation of copyright registration, restricted the scope of the appeal to a consideration of the true interpretation of Section 15 (2) of the Copyright Act, 2000, which enacts that where copyright in a design is capable of registration under the Designs Act, and is not so registered, as soon as the article - to which such copyright is applied, is produced more than fifty times through an industrial process, the copyright shall cease to exist. The Copyright Board held that the appellant’s registration vis-à-vis the artistic work, in respect of