JUDGMENT

06.11.2025

C. HARI SHANKAR, J.

1. Purportedly on coming to learn, in December 2020, that the appellant Mohammad Talha was operating a restaurant in Moradabad under the name GULSHAN-E-KARIM, serving Mughlai delicacies, the respondent instituted CS (Comm) 1979/2022, (1 “the suit” hereinafter) before the learned District Judge (Commercial Court-13), Central District, Tis Hazari, (2 “the learned Commercial Court”), seeking a decree of permanent injunction, restraining the appellant and all others acting on his behalf from using the mark GULSHAN-E

KARIM or any other mark which is deceptively identical or similar to the respondent’s registered trade marks, which included the word mark KAREEM and the device mark KARIM.

2. The suit is presently pending. Along with the suit, the respondent filed application under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, (3 “the CPC” hereinafter), seeking an interim injunction, restraining the appellant from using the mark GULSHAN-E-KARIM or any other mark which was confusingly or deceptively similar to the registered trade mark of the respondent.

3. By order dated 15 January 2025, the learned Commercial Court has allowed the aforenoted application of the respondent and has restrained the appellant from using the name KARIM as part of his trade mark GULSHAN-E-KARIM or otherwise, for his restaurant or in relation to any goods or services rendered or provided by him.

4. Aggrieved thereby, the appellant, as the defendant in the suit against whom the aforenoted injunction order has been passed, has instituted the present appeal.

5. We have heard Ms. Swathi Sukumar, learned Senior Counsel for the appellant and Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, learned Senior Counsel for the respondent, at length.

Facts and the impugned judgment

6. Stand of the respondent before the learned Commercial Court

6.1 Before the learned Commercial Court, the respondent claimed to have been founded in 1913 by one Haji Karimuddin, whose ancestors were stated to have worked as royal cooks in the kitchen of Mughal Emperors till the 1857 mutiny. While working as cooks, it was asserted that Haji Karimuddin’s ancestors had evolved what has later come to be known as Mughlai cuisine. The respondent claimed to have opened the first Karim restaurant in old Delhi in 1913 and also claimed, ever since then, to have been using the mark KARIM for its restaurant in old Delhi as well as its other outlets. The name KARIM, it was asserted, was derived from the name of the founder Haji Karimuddin.

6.2 The respondent is the proprietor of the following trade marks, registered under Section 23 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, (4 “the Act” hereinafter):

The respondent also claimed to be operating a website www.karimhoteldelhi.com.

6.3 It was also claimed that, by continuous and uninterrupted user of the mark KARIM, the respondent had amassed considerable goodwill and reputation in the market. Reference was invited to various awards and encomiums been earned by the respondent. As such, it was claimed, in the plaint, that the name KARIM had become synonymous with the respondent and had in fact become a source identifier for the respondent in the eyes of the consumers.

6.4 The plaint asserted that, in December 2020, the respondent had come to learn of the restaurant GULSHAN-E-KARIM b