Delhi High Court - Orders
Global Car Group Ltd. And Another vs Vienna It Solutions Pvt. Ltd on 25 January, 2023
Author: Amit Bansal
Bench: Amit Bansal
$~18
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CS(COMM) 46/2023
GLOBAL CAR GROUP LTD. AND
ANOTHER ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr.Chander M.Lall, Sr.Advocate with
Mr.Mohit Goel, Mr.Sidhant Goel,
Mr.Abhishek Kotvala, Mr.Deepankar
Mishra, Mr.Karmanya Dev Sharma
and Ms.Ananya Chug, Advocates.
versus
VIENNA IT SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD. ..... Defendant
Through: None.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT BANSAL
ORDER
% 25.01.2023 I.A. 1471/2023 (for exemption)
1. Subject to the plaintiffs filing documents with proper margin and the original, certified, translated and clear and legible copies of the documents on which the plaintiffs may seek to place reliance, within four weeks from today, exemption is granted for the present.
2. The application stands disposed of.
I.A. 1475/2023 (u/S 151 CPC)
3. For the reasons stated, the application is allowed.
4. The application stands disposed of.
I.A. 1476/2023 (u/S 151 CPC)
5. For the reasons stated, the application is allowed.
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSALCS(COMM) 46/2023 Page Signing 1 of 7 Date:25.01.2023 17:21:17
6. The application stands disposed of.
I.A. 1473/2023 (u/S 149 of the CPC)
7. Counsel for the plaintiffs submits that e-Court fees has been applied for and the same shall be filed within two weeks from today.
8. The aforesaid statement is taken on record and the plaintiffs are given two weeks' time to file the requisite Court fees.
9. The application is disposed of.
I.A. 1474/2023 (u/S 12A of Commercial Courts Act)
10. In view of the urgent interim relief sought, the plaintiffs are granted exemption from the requirement of pre-institution mediation in terms of Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.
11. Accordingly, the application stands disposed of. I.A. 1472/2023 (O-XI R-1(4) of the CPC)
12. The present application has been filed on behalf of the plaintiffs seeking leave to file additional documents under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.
13. The plaintiffs are granted thirty days' time to file additional documents.
14. Accordingly, the application is disposed of. CS(COMM) 46/2023
15. Let the plaint be registered as a suit.
16. Issue summons.
17. Summons be issued to the defendant through all modes. The summons shall state that the written statement shall be filed by the defendant within thirty days from the date of the receipt of summons. Along with the written statement, the defendant shall also file affidavit of admission/denial of the Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL CS(COMM) 46/2023 Page Signing 2 of 7 Date:25.01.2023 17:21:17 documents of the plaintiffs, without which the written statement shall not be taken on record.
18. Liberty is given to the plaintiffs to file replication, if any, within thirty days from the receipt of the written statement. Along with the replication filed by the plaintiffs, affidavit of admission/denial of the documents of the defendant be filed by the plaintiffs.
19. The parties shall file all original documents in support of their respective claims along with their respective pleadings. In case parties are placing reliance on a document, which is not in their power and possession, its detail and source shall be mentioned in the list of reliance, which shall also be filed with the pleadings.
20. If any of the parties wish to seek inspection of any documents, the same shall be sought and given within the timelines.
21. List before the Joint Registrar on 21st March, 2023 for completion of service and pleadings.
22. List before the Court on 21st April, 2023. I.A. 1470/2023 (O-XXXIX R-1 & 2 of the CPC)
23. The present suit has been filed seeking permanent injunction restraining the defendant from infringing the trademarks of the plaintiffs, passing off its services as that of the plaintiffs and other ancillary reliefs.
24. It has been averred in the plaint that the plaintiff no.2 is in the business of buying and selling second-hand cars and bikes on a B2B and B2C basis. The plaintiff no.2 was one of the first unicorn start-ups of India in this particular segment of the automotive industry and conducts its business through the website 'www.cars24.com', which is one of the most accessed and used online service providers for selling used cars. The Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL CS(COMM) 46/2023 Page Signing 3 of 7 Date:25.01.2023 17:21:17 plaintiff no.2 is the wholly owned subsidiary of the plaintiff no.1. The plaintiffs' services are available in India, UAE and Australia. The plaintiff no.1 is the registered proprietor of the 'Cars24' word mark in Classes 1, 9, 11, 12, 16, 35, 36, 37, 40 and 42 and also has registrations for other related formative marks [hereinafter '24 formative marks']. The 24 formative marks are also registered outside India. Details of the trademark registrations granted in favour of the plaintiffs have been provided on pages 68-262 of the documents filed with the plaint. On account of continuous and extensive use, the trademark 'Cars24' is a well-known trademark.
25. It has further been averred in the plaint that the current valuation of plaintiff no.2 is approximately USD 3.3 billion. The plaintiffs' sales turnover for the financial years commencing from 2015-2016 to 2021-2022 is Rs.13,585,00,00,000/. The plaintiffs have also expended substantial amounts of money in promoting its marks since 2015, being approximately Rs.724,00,00,000/-. Further, the plaintiffs have also effectively initiated legal actions against third party infringers for unauthorized use of their marks.
26. The case set up by the plaintiffs is that the defendant has got the domain name 'www.cars24.in' registered in its favour and the website hosted on the aforesaid domain name is displaying the impugned word mark 'Cars24' and the mark/logo . The website further provides that the defendant is operating from the address 493, Phase 9, Industrial Area, Mohali, Punjab -160062, which premises was found to have been Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSAL CS(COMM) 46/2023 Page Signing 4 of 7 Date:25.01.2023 17:21:17 abandoned by the defendant sometime in 2020-2021.
27. It is submitted on behalf of the plaintiffs that the aforesaid website of the defendant is a dummy website as it does not redirect to any active homepage but in fact redirects to an error page. Plaintiffs have filed a video demonstrating the same. It is further submitted that the defendant also claims to have registered domain names in respect of other brands such as 'www.fly24.com', 'www.city24.com', 'www.properties24.com', 'www.naukri.com', 'www.parties.com', which are in fact registered and owned by third-parties.
28. A comparison of the trademarks of the plaintiffs and the defendant is given as under:
PLAINTIFFS' MARKS DEFENDANT'S MARKS
Cars24
Bikes24 Cars24
Bus24
Auction24
Unnati24
Funding24
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed By:AMIT
BANSAL
CS(COMM) 46/2023 Page
Signing 5 of 7
Date:25.01.2023 17:21:17
29. A comparison of the above marks/logos of the plaintiffs with that of the defendant shows that the defendant is violating the statutory as well as common law rights of the plaintiffs, which amounts to infringement of trademark as well as passing off. This Court is of the prima facie view that the word mark of the defendant 'Cars24' is identical to the registered word mark of the plaintiffs. Even the logo being used by the defendant carries the 'Cars24' mark.
30. The Court has, during the course of the hearing, also visited the aforesaid dummy website of the defendant, which redirected to an error page, as submitted on behalf of the plaintiffs.
31. Issue notice.
32. Notice be issued to the defendant through all modes.
33. Reply be filed within four weeks.
34. Rejoinder thereto, if any, be filed within two weeks thereafter.
35. Based on the averments in the plaint and submissions made on behalf of the plaintiffs, a prima facie case has been made out in favour of the plaintiffs. Balance of convenience is in favour of the plaintiffs. Irreparable harm would be caused to the plaintiffs if an ex parte ad interim injunction as sought is not granted in favour of the plaintiffs.
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AMIT BANSALCS(COMM) 46/2023 Page
Signing 6 of 7
Date:25.01.2023 17:21:17
36. Consequently, till the next date of hearing, an ex parte ad interim injunction order is passed in the following terms:
i. The defendant, its partners, directors, shareholders or proprietor as the case may be, its assigns in business, franchisees, affiliates, subsidiaries, licensees and agents are restrained from using in manner whatsoever, selling, offering for sale, advertising, directly or indirectly dealing in any products or services under the impugned word mark 'Cars24' and the impugned mark/logo or any other trademark/trade name/trade dress or logo/device, which is identical and/or deceptively similar to the aforesaid 'Cars24' marks/logos/formative marks of the plaintiffs. ii. The defendant is directed to take down the dummy website hosted on the domain name 'www.cars24.in'.
iii. The concerned Domain Registrar and/or the defendant are directed to suspend the domain name 'www.cars24.in'.
37. Compliance under Order XXXIX Rule 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC) be done within five days.
38. List before the Joint Registrar on 21st March, 2023 for completion of service and pleadings.
39. List before the Court on 21st April, 2023.
AMIT BANSAL, J
JANUARY 25, 2023/sr
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed By:AMIT
BANSAL
CS(COMM) 46/2023 Page
Signing 7 of 7
Date:25.01.2023 17:21:17