* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CS(OS) 1893/2011
Judgment delivered on: 1st February, 2012
RAM KRISHAN AND SONS CHARITABLE TRUST ..... Plaintiff
Through Mr.Navin Chawla, Ms.Shikha
Sachdev and Mr.Bharat
Arora, Advs.
versus
GROUPNET EDUCATION & WELFARE SOCIETY..... Defendants
Through -
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KAILASH GAMBHIR:
KAILASH GAMBHIR, J.
1. The instant suit has been filed by the plaintiff for permanent injunction, restraining infringement of registered trademark, passing off, unfair competition, damages and rendition of accounts.
2. The brief facts of the case are that the plaintiff is a duly registered trust engaged in the field of providing educational services and is running various institutes in the field of Management Studies, Pharmacy and Engineering Studies, etc under a coined trade name "Institute for Integrated Learning in cs(os) 1893/2011 Page 1 of 6 Management" i.e "IILM" as a prefix to all the institutes managed by the plaintiff. It is also the case of the plaintiff that alongwith the trademark IILM, the plaintiff also coined the house device and the rising sun logo , along with the shield logo which is used by it as a logo to distinguish its educational institutes from those of third parties.
3. The plaintiff is running a number of educational institutes as detailed in para 3 of the plaint. As per the plaintiff, the trademark IILM is not a dictionary word and is inherently distinctive and qualifies to be a well known trademark under section 2(g) of the of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. The plaintiff also operates websites i.e www.iilm.edu , www.iilm.in, www.iilm.ac.in and has also got the said domain names registered on 06.05.1998, 16.2.2005 and 10.2.2003 respectively. The plaintiff has also obtained trade mark registrations in respect of the mark IILM and its logo as has been detailed in para 7 of the plaint.
4. It is also stated by the plaintiff that it was shocked to see the advertisement of the defendant in the Trade Mark Journal wherein the defendant in order to confuse the general public and create an impression of being associated with the plaintiff has adopted the trademark NILM, Northern Institute of Learning and cs(os) 1893/2011 Page 2 of 6 Management alongwith the rising sun and house device with the entire emphasis on the trademark NILM and the rising sun and the house device and has applied for registration of the same with the Registrar of Trade Marks. It has further been stated by the plaintiff that it immediately through its attorneys filed a notice of opposition opposing the registration of the said trade mark and caused a brief investigation to be conducted in the matter.
5. It has further been stated that it was revealed from the said investigation that the defendant had recently started running an educational institute by the name of NILM alongwith the house device and the rising sun logo. The plaintiff has further stated that the investigation also disclosed that the defendant also has an institute with the name of NIET , Northern Institute of Engineering and Technology with the entire emphasis on NIET, the house device and the rising sun logo.
6. It is the case of the plaintiff that the defendant by using the said trademark and tradename is passing off its goods and services as that of the plaintiff and the defendant has adopted the offending trademark/tradename for its educational cs(os) 1893/2011 Page 3 of 6 institutes by copying in an attempt to cash upon the goodwill of the plaintiff.
7. Vide orders dated 5.8.2011, summons were issued to defendant no.2 for 2.9.2011 and thereafter vide order dated 2.9.2011 the defendant was proceeded exparte. The plaintiff filed its exparte evidence by way of an affidavit of Shri O.P Sharma PW1, who was authorized to depose by the Board of Resolution passed by the trust, exhibited as PW1/1. The present suit has been filed through Mr.R.L Choudhry who was authorized to file and pursue the present suit on behalf of plaintiff vide Board Of Resolution exhibited as PW 1/2.
8. The plaintiff has placed on record (PW1/4 to PW1/8) copies of the different prospectuses of the plaintiff's institutes having the name of IILM. The plaintiffs holds the registration of the trademark IILM and has filed the registration certificates issued by the registry for use in legal proceedings as PW1/10 of the trademark registered as IILM with half moon sign in class 41 having registration number 1253399 and IILM with house device and rising sun logo having registration number 1253401 in class 41 of education, providing of training, entertainment, sporting and cultural activities. The plaintiff has also placed on record as cs(os) 1893/2011 Page 4 of 6 PW1/16 TM-5, the notice of opposition to the application of the defendant for registration of the trademark with the rising sun logo and the house device. PW1/18 is the prospectus of the defendant's institute i.e NILM with the rising sun logo and the house device. PW1/17 is the visiting card of Mr.Praven Garg, the President of the defendant group which has on the reverse the rising sun and the house device logo. The plaintiff has also placed on record (PW1/20) the cease and desist notice dated 17.12.2010 sent by the plaintiff to the defendant. It is the stand of the plaintiff in the plaint that the said notice was delivered to the defendant but was not replied to.
9. The plaintiff in the affidavit filed by Mr. O.P Sharma, reiterated the averments made in the plaint. By an additional affidavit filed Mr.O.Psharma, he has proved on record the registration granted to the rising sun and house device in class 16 and 35 and also the registration of IILM in class 9,16 and 35.
10. The evidence filed by the plaintiff herein has gone unrebutted. The defendant has neither contested the suit nor filed its written statement; therefore, this court is of eth considered view that the plaintiff is entitled to a decree of permanent injunction against the defendant in terms of para 24, cs(os) 1893/2011 Page 5 of 6 A(i) (ii)(iii) and (iv) of the plaint. The suit of the plaintiff is accordingly decreed with cost.
11. Let the decree sheet be drawn accordingly.
KAILASH GAMBHIR, J FEBRUARY 1, 2012 cs(os) 1893/2011 Page 6 of 6