The Delhi High Court recently granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction against ‘AAJ TAK GURGAON’ in the Aaj Tak trademark infringement suit.
The Single Bench of Justice Jyoti Singh observed that the Plaintiffs have made out a prima facie case for grant of ex-parte ad-interim injunction. Further, the court observed that the Plaintiffs are likely to suffer irreparable harm in case the injunction is not granted.
The Plaintiffs have obtained registrations for the word marks "AAJ TAK" and various other formative marks thereof consisting of "AAJ TAK" and as dominant and essential elements in respect of goods and services in various classes. Plaintiff No.1 obtained the mark's first registration in Class 9 on September 20, 1995. The Plaintiffs contended that Defendants No. 1 and 2 deliberately and deceptively adopted the impugned marks in order to mislead the public into believing that the impugned marks and the platforms associated with them are owned or affiliated with the Plaintiffs. Despite being served with a notice in December 2021, Defendants No. 1 and 2 are openly and blatantly using the impugned marks, and a comparison of the Plaintiffs' marks as well as the impugned marks, as set forth in the plaint, would demonstrate a clear case of infringement. Plaintiffs received a response on behalf of Defendant No.1 to the said to cease and desist notice on December 23, 2021, in which Defendant No.1 refused to refrain from infringing activities and unauthorised use of the impugned marks. It is further averred that Defendant No.1’s web portal, accessible at ‘www.aajtakgurgaon.com’ is a piece of digital news disseminating platform wherein news updates are not only limited to Gurugram but to the whole of India are made available in addition to third party advertisements and commercials.
Examining the submissions of the parties, the court restrained the Defendants, their promoters, partners, managers, employees, principals, agents, associates, affiliates, licensees, distributors, or any and all others acting on their behalf, directly or indirectly, from using the impugned mark and word ‘AAJ TAK’.
"....to suspend the domain name registration of the impugned domain name 'aajtakgurgaon.com' registered in the name of Defendant No. 2." the Court observed.
The Court further directed that the Plaintiffs shall comply with the provisions of Order 39 Rule 3 CPC within five days from today.
Case:- Civil Suit(COMM) 235/2022
Applicant:- LIVING MEDIA INDIA LIMITED & ANR
Opposite Party:-SATBIR BHARDWAJ & ORS.
Counsel for Plaintiffs:- Mr Rahul Beruar and Ms Jyotsna Sinha
Counsel for Defendants:- Ms Mamta Jha, Mr Rehan Ahuja, Ms Shruttima, Mr Vatsalya Vishal and Ms Riya Gupta