Delhi High Court
Exxon Mobile Corporation & Anr. vs Mr. Romanio George on 20 November, 2015
$~12
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Date of Decision: 20.11.2015
+ CS(OS) 1007/2014
EXXON MOBILE CORPORATION & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Ms Anuradha Salhotra with Mr.
Sumit Wadhwa, Advs.
Versus
MR. ROMANIO GEORGE ..... Defendant
Through: None.
CORAM:
HON‟BLE MR. JUSTICE NAJMI WAZIRI
NAJMI WAZIRI, J.(Open Court)
1. This suit seeks a permanent injunction against the infringement of
the plaintiffs‟ copyright in the trademark „EXXON‟, in particular for
restraining the defendant from using the trademark „EXXON‟ as a
part of the trade name "EXXON Power Tech" prominently for
selling branded inverters, UPSs and Batteries and rendition of
accounts by the defendant.
2. Plaintiff No.1 is a company incorporated under the laws of the State
of New Jersey, United States of America based at 5959 Las Colinas
Boulevard, Irving, Texas 75039-2298, U.S.A. Plaintiff No. 2 is an
Indian subsidiary of the first plaintiff and is a licensee/permitted
user of the plaintiff No.1‟s trademark in India. Ms. Veena P. is its
constituted Attorney. She was duly authorized by a Power of
Attorney to sign and verify the plaint on behalf of the second
_____________________________________________________________________________________
CS (OS) No.1007/2014 Page 1 of 4
plaintiff. The plaint has been signed by her and is supported by the
affidavit of the said Attorney of the plaintiff No.2.
3. It is stated that the plaintiffs‟ trademark „EXXON‟ is registered in
160 countries in the world including India. In India alone, there are
39 registrations for the mark „EXXON‟ in favour of plaintiff No.1
for wide varieties of goods falling in classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 11,
12, 16, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 30 and 31 of the 4th Schedule to
the Trade Marks Act, 1999. The earliest registration for the
trademark „EXXON‟ in India is dated October 28, 1967. The
plaintiffs claim to be a multinational oil and gas company engaged
in and conducting research in oil and gas exploration in six
continents and are world renowned leaders in chemical, petroleum
and related petroleum products.
4. It is plaintiffs‟ case that annual sales of „EXXON‟ branded products
averaged approximately 167,805 tons each year from 2004-2011
and they have spent an average of over USD 19,000,000 in
advertising and promotion of „EXXON‟ branded fuels and related
products and services during 2002-2011. Plaintiff No. 1 also owns
and maintains websites by the names of www.exxonmobil.com and
www.exxon.com since January, 1991.
5. It is further stated that the defendant is an authorized dealer of
inverters and batteries for brands like Microtek, Luminous, Su-Kam,
Exide, Amaron etc. and is carrying on its business under the name
and style of EXXON Power Tech. The defendant‟s use of the
trademark EXXON as a part of its trade name is an infringement of
the plaintiffs‟ well known trademark and trading style EXXON.
The use of the trademark EXXON by the defendant is bound to
create an impression of association with the plaintiffs in the minds
_____________________________________________________________________________________
CS (OS) No.1007/2014 Page 2 of 4
of the consumers. The plaintiffs approached the defendant through
its attorney vide letter dated 09.01.2014 followed by a reminder
dated 30.01.2014 to inter-alia give up the use of the plaintiffs‟
trademark and/or trading style EXXON but to no avail.
6. The plaintiffs have led their ex parte evidence though their
authorized Attorney Ms. Veena P., who has deposed in terms of the
plaint and provided a copy of the plaintiffs‟ annual report for the
year 2012 as Ex.PW1/50, copies of various articles, newspaper
coverage and photographs evidencing the plaintiffs‟ popularity as
Ex.PW1/51 (colly), copies of printouts of news articles published on
www.indiatoday.in along with various other advertisements and
press clippings as Ex.PW1/53 (colly), a copy of documents showing
the reputation of the plaintiffs‟ mark „EXXON‟ as Ex.PW1/54, a
copy of FORTUNE Magazine‟s ranking list of America‟s largest
companies from the year 1996-2012 as Ex.PW1/55, an original
visiting card of the defendant as Ex.PW1/56, the office copy of the
cease and desist letter dated 09.01.2014 sent by the plaintiff to the
defendant along with its courier receipt as Ex. PW1/57 and the
office copy of the reminder letter dated 30.01.2014 sent by the
plaintiff to the defendant along with its courier receipt as
Ex.PW1/58 (Colly).
7. On 04.04.2014, an ex parte ad interim injunction was passed against
the defendant from using the trademark „EXXON‟ as part of the
trading style or any other trademark or name or domain name
identical or deceptively similar to the plaintiff No.1‟s registered
trade mark „EXXON‟. On 03.11.2014, the defendant was proceeded
ex parte.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
CS (OS) No.1007/2014 Page 3 of 4
8. It is the plaintiffs‟ case that in earlier proceedings against three
parties, this Court has protected the breach of their trademark
EXXON i.e. in CS(OS) 2029/2013 & CS(OS) 758/2014.
9. Since the defendant is ex parte, the plaintiffs‟ claims remain
unrebutted. There is no reason why the relief sought in the plaint
should not be granted.
10. This Court is of the view that for the sake of protection of their trade
mark EXXON the plaintiffs have made out a case for grant of
injunction against infringement of the trade mark by the defendant.
The plaintiffs are entitled to the protection of their trademark and for
the suit to be decreed in their favour. In the circumstances, the suit
is decreed in terms of prayer (A) of the plaint alongwith costs of
Rs.50,000/-. Let the decree sheet be drawn up accordingly.
11. The suit is disposed off in the above terms.
NOVEMBER 21, 2015 NAJMI WAZIRI, J.
acm
_____________________________________________________________________________________
