In a recent decision, the High Court of Delhi considered whether a plaintiff that had instituted a passing-off action could amend its plaint to add a claim for trade mark infringement after securing registration of the mark during the pendency of the suit. The judgment affirms that procedural law should facilitate the effective adjudication of…
In a significant ruling concerning the arbitrability of trademark disputes arising from contractual arrangements, the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court allowed an appeal against an order of the District Judge (Commercial), South District, Delhi, and referred the dispute between the parties to arbitration under Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996….
CS(COMM) 1028/2024, I.A. 45301/2024 & I.A.26192/2025 Date of decision 24th July 2026 This judgment is among the first significant Indian decisions to examine how traditional copyright principles apply to generative artificial intelligence and large language models. In refusing interim relief to ANI Media Pvt. Ltd., the Delhi High Court considered whether OpenAI’s use of publicly…
Background The dispute arose from a suit filed by Malabar Gold Private Ltd. against M. Manuel, proprietor of “Malabar Fashion Jewellery,” before the Additional District Judge-II, Kozhikode, alleging trademark infringement, copyright infringement, passing off, and related reliefs. The plaintiff claimed exclusive rights over the registered trademark “MALABAR GOLD” and its logo in Class 14, asserting…
This dispute concerns two leading battery manufacturers-Exide Industries Limited (“Exide”) and Amara Raja Energy and Mobility Limited (“Amara Raja”) and centers on Amara Raja’s alleged imitation of Exide’s distinctive trade dress and resulting passing off. The key question before the Calcutta High Court was whether Amara Raja’s adoption of a similar red-and-white color scheme, packaging…
CS(Comm) 519/2019 Judgement dated 06 July 2026 Brief Background The dispute concerns trademark rights over the competing marks ‘boAt’ and ‘BOULT’ for smart wearables and audio products, including headphones, earphones and smartwatches. Imagine Marketing Pvt. Ltd. (Plaintiff), owner of the ‘boAt’ brand, filed a suit against Exotic Mile (Defendant), owner of the ‘BOULT’ brand, alleging…
In a significant judgment concerning trademark protection in the education sector, the Delhi High Court Division Bench (DB) upheld the order of the learned Single Judge refusing to grant an interim injunction in a dispute between two well-known civil services coaching institutes, Vajiram and Ravi Isa Study Centre LLP and Vajirao and Reddy Institute Pvt….
The Calcutta High Court rejected IndiaMART’s request for interim relief against OpenAI, holding that there is no legal right to compel a private AI platform to display or promote a business’s links. The Court found that IndiaMART’s grievance was primarily commercial in nature and did not establish trademark infringement, disparagement, copyright infringement, or any independent…
Publication Registered design protection has emerged as an increasingly important intellectual property right in India, particularly for industries where product appearance significantly influences consumer choice. A valid design registration grants the proprietor a statutory monopoly over the visual features of an article and enables enforcement against competitors who adopt the same or an obvious imitation…
ROBERT A. MERRY AND CO. LTD. V PICCADILLY AGRO INDUSTRIES LTD CS(COMM) 1164/2025 & CS(COMM) 9/2026 INTRODUCTION This case concerns a trademark dispute over the use of the mark WHISTLER for whiskey in India. Robert A. Merry & Co. Ltd., an Irish whiskey company, claimed prior international use and reputation in the marks WHISTLER and…
