Delhi High Court Denies Relief Due to Misleading Statements

Delhi High Court Denies Relief Due to Misleading Statements

Introduction

The Delhi High Court has denied interim relief to a company alleging trademark infringement, citing that both parties have not approached the Court with clean hands.

Factual Background

The plaintiff company claimed infringement of its registered trademark 'V3' and 'Volume 3' by the defendant company's use of similar marks. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant's use of the marks was likely to cause confusion among consumers.

Procedural Background

The Court considered the plaintiff's application for interim relief and the defendant's response, which included allegations of prior user and fabrication of documents.

Issues

The primary issue before the Court was whether to grant interim relief to the plaintiff.

Contentions of the Parties

Plaintiff: The plaintiff argued that the defendant's use of the similar marks was likely to cause confusion among consumers and infringe its trademark rights.

Defendant: The defendant alleged prior user and fabrication of documents by the plaintiff.

Reasoning and Analysis

The bench of Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh observed that both parties had made misleading statements and suppressed material facts, which disentitled them to discretionary relief. The Court noted that the plaintiff's claim of user since 2016 was inconsistent with its application for registration in 2018, which claimed the proposed user.

Directions

The Court issued the following directions:

• Denial of Interim Relief: The Court denied interim relief to the plaintiff, citing that both parties had not approached the Court with clean hands.
• Trial: The Court directed that the case would proceed to trial to determine the merits of the claims.

Implications

This judgment highlights the importance of approaching the Court with clean hands and the consequences of suppressing material facts or making misleading statements.

In this case the plaintiff was represented by Ms. Hamza Lakhani along with Ms. Kavisha Shah, and Mr. Prathmesh Bhosale, Advocates.