IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION IN ITS COMMERCIAL DIVISION TALLE SHUBHAM ASHOKRAO INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 4131 OF 2025 Digitally signed by TALLE SHUBHAM ASHOKRAO IN Date: 2025.08.12 20:24:21 +0530 COMMERCIAL IP SUIT NO. 311 OF 2023 CEAT Limited … Applicant/ Plaintiff.

Versus Ramu Kushwha & Anr. … Defendants ——————

Adv. Vinod Bhagat a/w Twisha Singh, Sonam Pradhan i/by Vinod A.

Bhagat for Plaintiff.

Adv. Hiren U. Trivedi a/w Pratiksha Thakur for Defendants.

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Coram : Sharmila U. Deshmukh, J.

Reserved on: July 30, 2025.

Pronounced on : August 12, 2025.

ORDER:

1. This is an action for infringement of Trade Mark, copyright and passing off. Vide order dated 20th October, 2023, ex-parte ad- interim reliefs were granted against the Defendant for infringement of trade mark and copyright by use of the impugned marks “CREATA” and “CATE” in respect of identical goods. The order was executed by the Court Receiver and during execution of the order the additional impugned mark “CAT” was found, for which amendment was permitted.

2. It is submitted that the Plaintiff is engaged in the business of interalia manufacturing and marketing automotive tyres, tubes, flaps and other allied and cognate goods from more than 450 retail stores/outlets named CEAT SHOPPE and CEAT Tyre Stop outlets located across India. The Plaintiff pleads that its origin dates back to the year 1924 when Ceat SpA was established as a Company in Italy. In or around year 1951, Ceat Gomma SpA commenced marketing and selling pneumatic and solid tyres using the trade mark “CEAT” which is an acronym for the Italian word for Electric Cables and Allied Products of Turin and is thus a coined and an invented word.

3. In India, Ceat Gomma SpA either by itself or through its licensee, has sold its pneumatic and solid tyres for automobiles/vehicles bearing the trade mark CEAT from December 1951 till about December 1966. In 1958, the Plaintiff was incorporated in India under the name and style of Ceat Tyres of India Limited and from 1960, the Plaintiff commenced manufacturing and marketing of tyres under the said trade mark CEAT under license from CEAT SpA, Italy. By deed of assignment dated 22^nd November, 1978, CEAT SpA assigned all its right in the trade mark CEAT along with goodwill of its business for the territory of India in favour of Plaintiff. Vide deed of assignment dated 6^th October, 2010 all rights in the trade mark world wide have been assigned in favour of the Plaintiff and the Plaintiff is the owner and proprietor of the trade mark CEAT.

4. It is submitted that the trade mark CEAT occupies a leading and essential feature of the Plaintiff’s corporate name. The various registrations, renewal certificate and online status are set out in paragraph 5 of the plaint with the earliest registration of the word mark “CEAT” being of the year 1961, the “CEAT” label mark being of the year 1987 and CEAT logo being registered in 2020. In order to demonstrate the goodwill and reputation, the details of the various awards bestowed on the Plaintiff are set out in paragraph 11 and in paragraph 12 the sales turnover is set out which for the year 2022-2023 is in excess of Rs. 11,088 Crores and advertisement/promotional expenses are more than Rs. 21,235 Crores.

5. In the year 2016, the new artistic label packaging for CEAT tyre tubes was designed at the instance of the Plaintiff primarily consisting of the label being divided into equal horizontal parts in unique and arbitrary combination of orange and blue background both forming front side and backside in respect of which copyright registration was obtained on 10^th April, 2018. In year 2021, a new artistic label was designed by the employee of an external agency at the instance of the Plaintiff for packing of CEAT tyre tubes, and the rights in the artistic work were relinquished in favour of the Plaintiff through a No Objection Letter. The Plaintiff is thus the owner of the copyright in the artistic label