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2025 Supreme(Online)(Mad) 73495
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
N. Senthilkumar, J
Mir Mahamood Ali – Appellant
Versus
Mir Mukkaram Ali – Respondent
(T)OP(CR) No.3 of 2024
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Mohd Yaqoob Kafeel
Under the Copyrights Act, a registration for an artistic work used as a trademark cannot be maintained if it is found to be based on forged documents or violates the requirement that no identical trademark is already registered in the name of another party.
Headnote:The petitioners filed an original petition under S.50 of the Copyrights Act seeking rectification of the Register of Copyrights to expunge the respondent's name as the owner of the artistic feature of the trademark 'Sagar Homeo Stores' (Registration Certificate No.A-A2262 of 2008), contending that the certificate was forged and illegal. The petitioners established through evidence (Exs.P1 to P9) that they are the registered proprietors of the trademark since 1991 and had previously registered the artistic features of the logo 'S & H'. The court focused on whether there could be dual registrations for the same logo, referencing S.45(1) & (2) of the Copyrights Act which requires a certificate from the Registrar of Trademarks to ensure no identical or deceptively similar mark is registered. The court observed that the petitioners proved their ownership and use of the mark, while the respondent remained ex-parte throughout the proceedings, failing to provide any contrary evidence. The original petition is ordered accordingly.
| Table of Content |
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| 1. claim for rectification of copyright register based on prior trademark ownership. (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4) |
| 2. allegations of forgery and statutory penalties for false copyright entries. (Para 5 , 6) |
| 3. evidentiary proof of ownership and effect of respondent remaining ex-parte. (Para 7 , 8 , 9) |
| 4. direction to expunge illegal copyright entries to prevent dual registration of identical marks. (Para 10 , 11) |
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Prayer : Original Petition filed under Section 50 of the Copyrights Act to rectify the Registrar of Copyrights by expunging the name of the respondent whose name was entered as the owner of the Artistic Feature of the Trade Mark Sagar Homeo Stores with its logo registered by the Registrar of Copyrights, Copyrights office, Government of India, New Delhi vide Registration Certificate No.A-A2262 of 2008 Dt.28.2.2008 and consequently declare such certificate as concocted, forged and illegal.
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O R D E R
This petition has been filed to rectify the register of Copyrights by expunging the name of the respondent, whose name was entered as the owner of the Artistic Feature of the Trade Mark 'Sagar Homeo Stores' with its logo registered by the Registrar of Copyrights, Copyrights office, Government of India, New Delhi vide Registration Certificate No.A-A2262 of 2008 Dt.28.2.2008 and consequently declare such certificate as concocted, forged and illegal.
2. The case of the petitioners is that the petitioners are the registered owners of the trademark titled "SAGAR HOMEO STORES", which has been duly registered vide Application No.559095 in respect of their homeo medicines in Class 5 of Nice Class Application. The said trademark has been registered on 24.09.1991 and the registration certificate bearing No.6137765 was issued on 07.03.2007. An application has been made before the Registrar of Copyrights on 27.08.2007 to register the artistic features of the trademark "SAGAR HOMEO STORES" with its logo denoting the alphabets 'S & H'
along with the search certificate issued by the Registrar of Trademarks. Thereafter, the Registrar has registered the artistic feature of the trademark 'SAGAR HOMEO STORE' along with its logo 'S & H' and entered the same in the Register of Copyrights.
3. The petitioners came to know that the respondent, who is doing an identical business is using the same trade mark as that of the petitioners i.e. 'Sagar Homeo Stores' with its artistic features. The petitioners came to know that there was a registration vide Application No.86725/2009 dated 28.08.2009 depicting the same artistic work of the petitioners. The petitioners took serious note of the certificate standing in the name of the respondent vide Application No.86725/2009, which according to the petitioners is invalid. There cannot be two registration for the same logo in view of Section 45(1) & (2) of the Copyrights Act . For the sake of convenience, Section 45(1) & (2) of the Copyrights Act , is extended hereunder:
45. Entries in register of copyrights: (1) The author or publisher of, or the owner of or other person interested in the copyright in, any work may make an application in the prescribed form accompanied by the prescribed fee to the Registrar of Copyrights for entering particulars of the
work in the Register of copyrights.
[Provided that in respect of an artistic work which is used or is capable of being used in (relation to any goods or services, the application shall include a statement to that effect and shall be accompanied by a certificate from the registrar of Trade Marks referred to in section 3 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 (47 of 1999), to the effect that no trade mark identical with or deceptively similar to such aristic work has been registered under that Act in the name of, or that no application has been made under that Act for such registration by, any person other than the applicant.
(2) On receipt of an application in respect of any work under sub section (1), the Registrar of Copyrights may, after holding such inquiry as he
