Delhi High Court: In a suit filed by Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. (‘Aditya Birla Fashion’) seeking permanent injunction to restrain the infringement of trade mark, copyright, passing off, unfair trade practice, declaration, rendition of accounts, damages, delivery up, etc., a Single Judge Bench of Mini Pushkarna, J. held that Aditya Birla Fashion had made a prima facie case in their favour and restrained the defendants from both, using the mark ‘Peter England’ outside their shop and in the invoice/business paper.
Background
The present suit was filed by Aditya Birla Fashion to restrain the defendants from putting a signboard outside their shop with the trade mark ‘Peter England’ for identical goods and services to that of Aditya Birla Fashion.
The plaintiff submitted that it was one of the top clothing brands and the fastest growing premium fashion and lifestyle company in the country. It was submitted that ‘Peter England’ was one of the most loved apparel brands offering clothes and accessories of unmatched value.
The plaintiff submitted that it was the registered proprietor of the trade mark ‘Peter England’ in different classes. The first registration of the plaintiff for the trade mark dates back to the year 1995. It was submitted that all the registrations of Aditya Birla Fashion were legal, valid, and subsisting.
The plaintiff submitted that initially, the trade mark had also been registered in all major countries of the world and across the countries. It was submitted that Aditya Birla Fashion was also artistically using the trade mark and the artwork involved was an original artistic work.
The plaintiff submitted that in December 2023, Aditya Birla Fashion came across the store of the defendants in Khanpur, Delhi wherein the trade mark was being used on the sign board outside the store of the defendants.
The plaintiff submitted that the defendants had deliberately put up the infringing sign boards in front of its store to confuse the customers and mislead them into visiting the defendant’s store, believing the same to be an authorized and authentic store of Aditya Birla Fashion.
Analysis and Decision
The Court stated that Aditya Birla Fashion had made a prima facie case in its favour and that the balance of convenience was in favour of Aditya Birla Fashion and against the defendants. It was also stated that in case an interim order was not granted in favour of Aditya Birla Fashion, they would be likely to suffer irreparable damage.
The Court restrained the defendants from putting the sign board with the mark ‘Peter England’ outside their shop and also restrained them from using any invoice/business paper with the trade mark.
[Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. v. Friends Inc., 2024 SCC OnLine Del 4939, Decided on 12-07-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For Plaintiff — Advocate Ankur Sangal, Advocate Ankit Arvind, Advocate Shashwat Rakshit, Advocate Nidhi Pathak
For Defendants — None
