The Delhi High Court has granted ad interim injunction in favour of manufacturer of liquor brand "MAGIC MOMENTS" in a trademark infringement suit against "EVENING MOMENT" mark as being deceptively similar to it's registered trademark.
The single-judge bench of Justice Pratibha M. Singh allowed the petition filed by Radico Khaitan Ltd., one of the largest manufacturers and sellers of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in India, with MAGIC MOMENTS as one of its leading products generating major revenue.
The grievance of the plaintiff-applicant was that defendent is the proprietor of the impugned trademark ‘EVENING MOMENT’ in Class 33 for alcoholic beverages, though the same was filed on a ‘proposed to be used’ basis.
Counsel for the Plaintiff, submitted that the Defendants were initially not injuncted qua whisky as the Defendants had claimed that they had been using the mark for five years, in view of the registration which was in their favour.
He relied on the fact that the word ‘MOMENTS’ is the essential and dominant feature of the Plaintiff’s mark ‘MAGIC MOMENTS’. Thus stating that owing to the large amount of sales of the Plaintiff and the various registration for the word ‘MOMENTS’ and ‘MAGIC MOMENTS’, etc., the mark deserves to be protected even qua whisky, he pleaded for stay on defendent's product.
The Court at the outset noted that the Plaintiff adopted the word mark 'MAGIC MOMENTS' in the year 1997 and has launched Gin and Vodka products under the trademark 'MAGIC MOMENTS' in the year 2005 and 2006, and has been using the said trade mark extensively, continuously and in an uninterrupted manner. It launched many variants under the umbrella brand 'MAGIC MOMENTS'̣
It noted that the essential feature of the mark ‘MAGIC MOMENTS’ being ‘MOMENTS’ has also been protected by Single-Judge order in Radico Khaitan Limited v. Vintage Distillers Ltd. as against ‘VINTAGE MOMENTS’.
Relying on the rationale in the above order and other legal precedents, the Court remarked that in the present case too, the words ‘MAGIC MOMENTS’ is an arbitrary word used for the products of the Plaintiff.
It thus opined that the marks ‘MAGIC MOMENTS’ and ‘EVENING MOMENT’ are deceptively similar in view of the fact that the essential feature ‘MOMENT’ is being used in toto by the Defendants.
"The use of the word ‘MOMENT’ in the Defendant’s mark could lead consumers to connect the said product to the Plaintiff. It can be easily perceived that the Defendant’s product is another addition to the Plaintiff’s product-stable. Moreover, the use of the word ‘EVENING’ is not sufficient to distinguish the two products due to the very nature of the product which is usually consumed in evening times. The focus would be on the word ‘MOMENT’ which is the dominant part of the impugned mark."
Read Order Here:
Share this Document :Picture Source :
