$~51 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Date of Decision: 21^st January, 2026 + CS(COMM) 252/2019 & I.A. 7074/2019 BENNETT, COLEMAN & COMPANY LIMITED & ANR. .....Plaintiffs Through: Ms. Mamta R. Jha, Mr. Akhil Saxena and Ms. Palak Batra, Advocates.

versus SERAPHIC DIVINE BEAUTY PRIVATE LIMITED & ORS.

.....Defendants Through: Defendants are ex parte.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE JYOTI SINGH

JUDGEMENT

JYOTI SINGH, J. (ORAL)

1. This suit is filed by the Plaintiffs seeking a decree of permanent injunction restraining Defendants No.1 and 2 and all others acting on their behalf from organizing the impugned event/beauty pageant DIVINE MISS INDIA comprising of Plaintiffs’ trademark MISS INDIA with mere addition of the prefix DIVINE and/or operating/owning the website www.divinemissindia.com, amongst other reliefs.

2. Plaintiff No.1 was incorporated on 29.11.1913 and has been since then publishing newspapers, magazines and periodicals. Plaintiff No.2 was incorporated on 16.09.2003 as a result of strategic alliance with Worldwide Channels Investments Limited and Plaintiff No.1 for publishing magazines and newspapers in India and has been publishing a wide range of publications such as Top Gear, Femina (Hindi). In August, 2011 Plaintiff No.1 acquired remaining 50% shares of Plaintiff No.2 and the latter became a fully owned subsidiary of Plaintiff No.1.

3. As stated in the plaint, Plaintiffs belong to Times Group, which has been involved in varieties of businesses such as media and entertainment including radio broadcast, event management, outdoor advertising, television broadcast, publication of newspapers and magazines, internet services etc. Times Group under the trademark TIMES started 180 years ago with the business of publishing newspapers, journals and books and as averred, on the date of filing the suit it had more than 45 dailies and periodicals in 06 languages with 150 editions and over 7000 employees and a combined annual turnover in excess of USD 700 million.

4. It is stated that Plaintiffs are also proprietors of several magazines under various brands covering everything from fashion to lifestyle, current trends to beauty pageants and integrated marketing, some of which are Femina, Filmfare, Home Trends. Through their tremendous goodwill and reputation, Plaintiffs have also forayed into the business of hosting events which are business as well as entertainment related, ranging from summits, conferences to fashion shows and beauty pageants. Times Group organizes and hosts the Filmfare Awards, the Economic Times Awards, to name a few and one of the most iconic events organized by the Plaintiffs is Miss India Pageant, winners of which represent India at the International beauty pageant ‘Miss World’.

5. Plaintiff No.1 adopted the trademark MISS INDIA and has been using the same since 01.01.1964. Plaintiffs have obtained multiple trademark registrations in various classes for the trademark MISS INDIA and its formative trademarks, which are as follows:-

6. The Registrations are stated to be valid and subsisting and renewed from time to time. Earlier, some of the registrations of the trademark ‘FEMINA MISS INDIA’ were granted subject to disclaimers, however, later registration of trademark MISS INDIA was granted without any limitation since the trademark had acquired distinctiveness, owing to long, continuous and extensive use since 1964. Plaintiffs have invested considerable amount of time, efforts and financial resources in building reputation under the mark MISS INDIA, which is evident from the annual revenue figures and annual promotional expenses from 2001 to 2019 as follows:-

7. It is stated that Plaintiffs have diligently protected their intellectual property rights against infringers and have been given favourable orders in several suits and oppositions. Courts have from time to time recognized and affirmed the substantial goodwill and reputation associated with the Plaintiffs’ trademark MISS INDIA and its formatives. Details o