AMIT BANSAL, J. (Oral)

1. The present suit has been filed seeking relief of permanent injunction restraining the defendants from infringing the trademarks and copyright of the plaintiffs, passing off and other ancillary reliefs.

PLEADINGS IN THE PLAINT

2. The plaintiff no.1, ‘Living Media India Limited’, an Indian company having its registered office in New Delhi, is engaged in the business of publishing magazines, both physical and electronic, in India.

3. The plaintiff no.2, ‘T.V. Today Network Limited’, is a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956. It is stated that the plaintiffs are a part of the ‘India Today Group’, a media conglomerate established over four decades ago.

4. It is stated that the India Today Group of Companies has widespread commercial interests in both print and electronic media and is engaged in diverse business activities ranging from printing and publishing of magazines, journals, periodicals, to the running of news channels, infotainment program, organizing conferences, seminars, music shows, and running FM radio channels besides other related activities.

5. It is stated that plaintiff no.1 is the proprietor of the publications ‘India Today’, ‘Business Today’, and ‘Auto Today’. It is further stated that the plaintiffs have earned significant recognition and respect from readers, with these widely circulated magazines gaining immense popularity and establishing a strong, well-known reputation over the years.

6. The plaintiffs’ have obtained multiple trademark registrations for its marks ‘INDIA TODAY’, ‘BUSINESS TODAY’ and ‘AAJ TAK’. The same are given in paragraph 30 of the plaint.

7. It is stated that the plaintiffs also are entitled to copyright protection for the following magazines:

i. India Today English

ii. India Today Hindi

iii. Business Today

iv. Auto Today

v. Cosmopolitan India

vi. Harper's Bazaar India

vii. Reader's Digest India

8. It is stated that the magazines mentioned at serial nos. i to iv above are the original literary works under the Copyrights Act 1957. The magazines mentioned at serial nos. v, vi and vii have been licensed to the plaintiff no.1 by their original owners and include plaintiff no.1's original editorial content.

9. The Reader's Digest Indian edition is also one of the largest-selling English magazines in India. It is the plaintiffs’ case that in December, 2002, the Reader's Digest Association Inc., renamed to ‘Trusted Media brands, Inc.’, entered into a license agreement with the plaintiff no.1, whereby it granted the license to publish the Reader's Digest magazine in India (hereinafter referred to as the 'License Agreement'). The plaintiff no.1 has continued to annually renew its License Agreement with ‘Trusted Media brands, Inc’. As per the License Agreement, the plaintiff no.1 has the right to prosecute any person infringing upon the plaintiff no.1's intellectual property rights in relation to Reader's Digest magazine India edition.

10. In addition to the aforementioned publications, the plaintiffs also possess exclusive rights from ‘Hearst Magazine Media, Inc.’, an American multinational mass media conglomerate, to publish Indian editions of the Hearst magazines 'Harper's Bazaar India' and 'Cosmopolitan India'.

11. It is stated that the plaintiffs invest substantial amount of resources, in terms of technology, time and money and also employ a large number of personnel including journalists, photographers, editors, inter alia for collecting credible information, creating informative content and disseminating reliable news /information among the public through the above mentioned magazines and publications. It is further stated that the said magazines are made available to the public at large and readers on subscription-based models. The subscriptions for the magazines of the plaintiff no.1 constitutes a major portion of the revenue generated by the plaintiffs. The revenue figures of the plaintiffs’ magazine and news channels are given in paragraph 36 of the plaint. It i