- Court
- Karnataka High Court
- Date of judgment
- Judge
- Anant Ramanath Hegde Mfa
- Outcome
- Dismissed
Headnote
Appeal dismissed and the interim injunction restraining use of SVT HOTEL SPECIAL for asafoetida confirmed. A registered mark is prima facie valid under section 31, and to displace that at the interlocutory stage the defendant must show that the registration is ex facie impermissible or was granted in gross violation of the Act, a high threshold not met here. Whether HOTEL SPECIAL merely denotes the intended purpose of bulk sale to hoteliers, and so attracts section 30, is a matter of evidence and not a ground to refuse an injunction against a mark registered after ten years of use. The defendant's use of the registered symbol on an unregistered mark supported the restraint against passing off. The trial court's reasoning that a claim of prior use amounted to an admission of distinctiveness was wrong, but did not warrant interference given the limited scope of Order XLIII Rule 1.
Headnote by BRB Legal, written from the judgment: a summary for reference, not legal advice. Read the judgment itself before relying on it.