The court ruled that the petitioner failed to establish a case of copyright infringement, dismissing the petition regarding the registration of a competing product's label.

PRAYER Petition filed under Section 50 of the Copyright Act, 1957, (a) to suspend the impugned copyright registration No.A-85790/2009 of the Respondent from the Copyright Register during the pendency of the present proceedings; (b) to expunge the impugned copyright registration No.A-85790/2009 of the Respondent from the Copyright Register and (c) cost of present proceedings may be awarded to the petitioner.

For Petitioner (s): Mr.Rupikaa Srinivasan for Mr.Shikha Sachdev For Respondent(s): Mr.Subbu Rangha Bharathi (for R2)

R1 - Set exparte

ORDER

The present petition has been filed (a) to suspend the impugned copyright registration No.A-85790/2009 of the 1st Respondent from the Copyright Register during the pendency of the present proceedings and (b) to expunge the impugned copyright registration No.A-85790/2009 of the 1st Respondent from the Copyright Register.

2.The brief case of the petitioner is as follows:

2.1.The Petitioner is a company incorporated in 1988 under the Companies Act, 1956, engaged in the manufacture and sale of well-known consumer products viz., PARACHUTE, PARACHUTE ADVANSED JASMINE, Marico's HAIR & CARE, NIHAR, SAFFOLA, MEDIKER, LIVON, REVIVE, SILK-N-SHINE and SET WET. The present petition is filed under Section 50 of the Copyright Act, 1957, seeking removal or rectification of Copyright Registration No.A-85790/2009 dated 01.06.2009 granted in favour of the 1st Respondent, in respect of the artistic work used on the packaging of EVEREST COCONUT OIL.

2.2.The impugned registration has been wrongly granted and is fraudulently remaining on the Register of Copyrights, as the 1st Respondent’s label is a substantial, colourable imitation and copy of the Petitioner’s prior copyrighted and trade marked PARACHUTE label, which features the distinctive Flag Device, the Broken Coconut Device, the unique blue and green colour combination and the overall layout and trade dress that have become exclusively associated with the Petitioner. The Petitioner holds prior copyright registration No.A-64997/2003 and multiple trade mark registrations, including Nos. 737893, 737894, 1033842, and 1033844, all of which predate the 1st Respondent’s registration and the same has been used extensively and continuously since 1948 by the Petitioner and its predecessors, Bombay Oil Industries Limited.

2.3.The 1st Respondent, by concealing material facts and by misrepresenting the originality of his work, obtained registration in violation of Section 45(1) of the Copyright Act and failed to disclose the existence of the Petitioner’s prior trade mark registrations for deceptively similar artistic works. The 1st Respondent’s conduct amounts to copyright infringement, passing off, and unfair competition, as the impugned label replicates the essential features of the PARACHUTE label and deceives the public into believing that the 1st Respondent’s product originate from or is associated with the Petitioner.

2.4.The 1st Respondent has a history of infringing behaviour, having previously copied the PARACHUTE trade dress in 2002 under the mark SHRI LAXMI, and despite cease & desist notices and court proceedings, has continued to engage in unlawful imitation. The impugned registration violates the principles of equity, fair play and justice, and undermines the legislative intent of protecting only original artistic works under Section 13(1)(a) of the Act. Since the 1st Respondent’s work is a pirated reproduction and not an original creation, the impugned registration has been entered in the Copyright Register without sufficient cause and wrongly remains on record. The Petitioner, therefore prayed to suspend and expunge the impugned Copyright Registration No.A-85790/2009 from the Register.

3.The 1st respond