Read the following case study carefully and answer the questions given at the end : Facts of the case : The plaintiff XYZ Ltd. is a Company publicly listed, organized and existing under the laws of USA, having its regist

CS Professional · Intellectual Property Rights - Laws and Practices · PYQS · June 2019
Read the following case study carefully and answer the questions given at the end : Facts of the case : The plaintiff XYZ Ltd. is a Company publicly listed, organized and existing under the laws of USA, having its registered office at New York. Mr. ABC is duly authorised to sign, verify and institute the present suit. The plaintiff's group of companies is one of the world's most famous and well-known hotel and resort chain group using the trademark 'sleepingcat' and its device. The plaintiff's flagship company 'sleepingcat Resort' was launched in 1994 in Laguna Phuket under the trademark 'sleepingcat' and its device. Hence, the mark is inherently distinctive of the business and products of the plaintiff and the continuous use of the trademark 'sleepingcat' by the plaintiff group since the year 1994 has created goodwill and reputation in the said mark that is associated with the plaintiff and the plaintiff alone. The plaintiff Group's services and products under the trademarks 'sleepingcat' and its device have been widely promoted inter alia through print and audio-visual media including television programmes, advertisements, articles and write-ups appearing in leading newspapers, magazines, journals, etc. all of which enjoy a wide viewership, circulation and readership all over the world. Many of these forms of media also have a substantial reach and circulation in India and are viewed by millions of Indians who travel abroad or who subscribe to the same in India every year. In addition, many people from all over the world including India access the plaintiff Group's websites : www.sleepingcat.com, www.sleepingcatspa.com, www.sleepingcatgallery.com, www.sleepingcatresorts.com that have been registered since as early as 1996 and become acquainted with the plaintiff Group's business, services and products which further contributed to the reputation and notoriety of the mark 'sleepingcat' and its device of the plaintiff. The plaintiff Group, being prior in the adoption and use of the mark 'sleepingcat' and its device, is its proprietor and thus, entitled to the use of these marks under common law rights, to the exclusion of all others. Apart from having common law rights in the mark 'sleepingcat' and its device, the plaintiff also has statutory right in the same. It is submitted that the plaintiff has registered or has sought to register the mark 'sleepingcat' and its device in more than 30 countries of the world. The plaintiff is, thus, the registered owner of the trademark 'sleepingcat' as well as the device in various countries. The defendant Mr. X is the Managing Director of defendant No. 2 which is 'sleepingcat Tours and Travels (Pvt.) Ltd.' having its office at Dadar, Mumbai and at Regal Building, Parliament Street, New Delhi. It is the case of the plaintiff against the defendant that sometime in 2004 it came to the knowledge of the plaintiff that the defendants had applied for registration of the mark 'sleepingcat' under the Trademarks Act, 1999. The plaintiff had filed opposition against the purported registration applications in 2004. The said application were thereafter abandoned in February 2005 since the defendants failed to file any counter statements to the oppositions filed by the plaintiffs predecessor in-title and thus, the cases were closed. In June, 2005 the defendants filed an application with trademark office seeking registration of the mark 'sleepingcat' with device, opposition to which was filed by the plaintiff in May 2006 and September 2006 respectively. While the said applications were under contest before the trademarks registry, the defendant used the trademark for advertising his services. It adopted the website www.sleepingcattours.com which was created on 16th August 2003. The plaintiff filed the suit against the defendant use of the trademark on 15 January 2019. It plead to the court that : (1) The adoption of the mark 'sleepingcat' and its device by the plaintiff is much prior to the filing of the application for registration of the mark 'sleepingcat' and its device by the defendants and also much prior to the alleged use of it by the defendants. (2) It is submitted that the defendants belong to the same trade/industry and therefore, there exists every reason for the defendants to have been aware of the plaintiffs marks and also the goodwill and reputation of the said marks worldwide. (3) The plaintiff submits that there is no way in which the defendants could have honestly or by sheer coincidence adopted such a well known mark for his goods, except for ulterior gains. The conduct of the defendants is totally dishonest and is solely motivated to create mass deception and confusion by running a trade/business under an identical trademark. The defendants' activities are clearly motivated to encash upon the hard earned reputation and goodwill of the plaintiff's well known and recognized trademark 'sleepingcat' and its device. The following defence were raised by the defendant : (1) The plaintiffs have no area of operation from India nor do they have any office in India, while the defendants are a company incorporated within India and have their area operations in India and have been actively conducting business since 1996 without any interruption. The plaintiffs are only trying to take advantage of the goodwill and reputation of the defendants and to encash on the presence of the defendants' business which the defendants have established for the last 12 years in India and abroad under the trademark of 'sleepingcat' and its device. (2) The defendant No. 2 is one of the leading tour and travel companies including camping and adventure sports and lay special emphasis on providing services to suit the clients and to provide such hospitality designed to fit into its natural surrounding, using indigenous resources as far as possible which may reflect the landscape and architecture of the area of travel and also catering to all such needs of clients visiting India and taking the advantage of the facilities and other opportunities available in India with regards to well known tourists spots in India. (3) The plaintiffs are conducting a business of hotels, resorts and spas while the defendants are primarily conducting services relating to travel and tourism in India through their company and the trademark 'sleepingcat' and its device. There is no trade connection between the business of the plaintiff and defendants. Questions : Does the court have jurisdiction in the given case ?

Answer & Explanation:

The plaintiffs have no area of operation from India nor do they have any office in India, while the defendants' area of operation is a company incorporated in India and have their area operations in India and have been actively conducting business since 1996 without any interruption. The plaintiffs are only trying to take advantage of the goodwill and reputation of the defendants and to encash on the presence of the defendant's business which the defendants have established for the last 12 years in India and abroad under the trademark of 'sleepingcat' and its device. The defendant No. 2 is one of the leading tour and travel companies including camping and adventure sports and lay special emphasis on providing services to suit the clients and to provide such hospitality designed to fit into its natural surroundings, using indigenous resources as far as possible which may reflect the landscape and architecture of the area of travel and also catering to all such needs of clients visiting India and taking the advantage of the facilities and other opportunities available in India with regards to well-known tourist spots in India. The plaintiffs are conducting a business of hotels, resorts and spas while the defendants are primarily conducting services relating to travel and tourism in India through their company and the trademark 'sleepingcat' and its device. There is no trade connection between the business of the plaintiff and defendants. The defendants are carrying on their business in India. The plaintiffs neither actually nor voluntarily reside and/or carry on business nor personally work for gain within the territorial jurisdiction of the Courts in India. Section 135 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 provides plaintiff centric jurisdiction to the parties. In the present case the plaintiff is offering his products and services for sale in India through the Internet. Further, the plaintiff has filed the case by making itself available to the court in India. Therefore this Court has jurisdiction to entertain and decide the present suit. By inserting section 134(2) of the trademarks act, 1999 the Legislature has brought the trademarks law in tandem with the provisions under the Copyright Act. In section 62(2) of the Copyright Act as well as in Section 20 of the Code of Civil Procedure to enable the plaintiff to sue one who infringed his copyright within whose local limits he carried on business at the time of institution of the suit or other proceedings. The expression "carries on business" as provided under Section 62(2) and Section 134(2) of the Copyright Act and Trademarks Act respectively is restricted not only to the principle place of business but also covers branch or branches wherever the business is carried on. In Ultratech Cement & Anrv. Dalmia Cement Bharat Limited the Bombay High Court held that even if one of the plaintiffs has place of residence or carries on business within the jurisdiction of the Courts, the Court is entitled to entertain the suit. The Court has further held that even if no cause of action arises at a subordinate place of business the plaintiff is still entitled to file a suit for infringement and passing off within the jurisdiction of the Court. There is a divergence from Section 20 of the CPC wherein the suits related to trademarks under can be filed even in a place other than the principle place of business i.e. where a branch office is situated, even if no cause of action arises.

Topics: Trademark Law

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