Karnataka High Court
Adj Utility Apps Private Limited, vs Mr. Sumit Rajendra Shaha on 12 November, 2020
Equivalent citations: AIRONLINE 2020 KAR 2494
Author: Krishna S.Dixit
Bench: Krishna S.Dixit
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU
DATED THIS THE 12TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2020
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KRISHNA S.DIXIT
WRIT PETITION NO.10172 OF 2020 (GM-CPC)
BETWEEN:
1 . ADJ UTILITY APPS PRIVATE LIMITED,
A COMPANY REGISTERED UNDER THE
PROVISIONS OF THE COMPANIES ACT, 2013,
HAVING ITS REGISTERED OFFICE AT:
HOUSE NO.5, GALI NO. B-5,
ASHOK VIHAR PHASE-III EXTENSION
GURUGRAM, GURGAON, HARYANA - 122 022.
ALSO HAVING ITS OFFICE AT:
1203, SAMRUDHI, 22ND CROSS,
HSR LAYOUT, BENGALURU - 560 012.
REPRESENTED BY ITS DIRECTOR AND
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
MR. RAVISH NARESH.
2 . KYTE TECHNOLOGIES INC.,
A COMPANY INCORPORATED UNDER
THE LAWS OF DELAWARE,
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
HAVING IS PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS AT:
340 S LEMON AVENUE 5424 WALNUT,
CALIFORNIA - 91789,
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
REPRESENTED BY ITS DIRECTOR
MR. RAVISH NARESH.
...PETITIONERS
(BY SRI. SRINIVAS RAGHAVAN, SR. COUNSEL FOR
SRI. NIKHILESH RAO.M, ADVOCATE)
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AND:
1 . MR. SUMIT RAJENDRA SHAHA,
AGED MAJOR,
VILLA NO 68
RBD STILLWATERS APARTMENTS AND
PRIVATE RESIDENCES,
SILVER COUNTY ROAD, HSR LAYOUT
NEAR MAIN SARJAPUR HOBLI,
SECTOR 5, HARALUR,
KARNATAKA - 560 102.
2 . GROWTHPOND TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE LIMITED,
A COMPANY REGISTERED UNDER THE PROVISIONS
OF THE COMPANIES ACT, 2013,
HAVING ITS REGISTERED OFFICE AT:
FLAT NO. D/403, ORCHIED ENCLAVE,
GM COLONY, YADAV NAGAR,
NAHAR AMRIT SHAKTI, POWAI,
MUMBAI - 400 072.
REPRESENTED BY ITS DIRECTOR.
3 . RISEMETRIC INC.
HAVING ITS PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS AT:
814, CRESCENT BUSINESS PARK,
NEAR MTNL TEL EXCHANGE,
SAKINA ANDHERI EAST,
MUMBAI - 400 072, MAHARASHTARA
REPRESENTED BY ITS DIRECTOR
4 . RANKZ INC,
HAVING ITS PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS AT:
2007, 100 FEET ROAD, HAL 2ND STAGE,
KODIHALLI, BENGALURU - 560 008,
REPRESENTED BY ITS DIRECTOR.
...RESPONDENTS
(BY SRI. SAJAN POOVAYYA, SR. COUNSEL FOR
SRI. ARJUN RAO, ADVOCATE)
THIS WRIT PETITION IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 &
227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA PRAYING TO SET ASIDE
THE IMPUGNED ORDER DATED 03.09.2020 AT ANNEXURE-F
PASSED BY THE LXXXIII ADDITIONAL CITY CIVIL AND SESSIONS
JUDGE ON I.A.NO.5/2020 IN COMM.O.S.NO.215 OF 2020 AND
CONSEQUENTLY DIRECT THAT THE SUIT BE RESTORED ON
THE FILE OF THE TRIAL COURT AND ETC.
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THIS WRIT PETITION COMING ON FOR ORDERS THIS DAY
THROUGH VIDEO CONFERENCE, THE COURT MADE THE
FOLLOWING:
ORDER
Both the parties having amicably settled the dispute once for all, have filed a Joint Memo dated 12.11.2020, which reads as under:
"JOINT COMPROMISE MEMO The Petitioners and the Respondents jointly submit as follows:
1. The Petitioners have filed the above writ petition seeking to set aside the Order dated 03.09.2020 (at Annexure-F) ("Impugned Order") passed by the LXXXIII Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge (CCH-84) in Comm O.S. No. 215 of 2020, whereby the Learned Trial Judge had rejected I.A. No. 5/ 2020 and consequently returned the Plaint filed by the Petitioners-Plaintiffs. This Hon'ble Court vide its interim order dated 25.09.2020 was pleased to stay the operation of the Impugned Order and also restrained the Respondents from infringing the Petitioner No 1's copyright over the sourcecode/codebase of the application 'Dukaan' and running, operating and managing the 'Dukaan' application on any and all online platforms including but not limited to Google Playstore till the next date of hearing ("Interim Order"). It is respectfully submitted that the Interim Order detailed above has been extended by this Hon'ble Court on each date of hearing.
2. On 23.10.2020, this Hon'ble Court referred the sourcecode/codebase that according to the Petitioner No 1 was provided to it by Respondent No 2 ("Disputed Sourcecode") and a new sourcecode/codebase that according to Respondent No 2 was provided to it by Eyuva Internet Pvt. Ltd. ("New Sourcecode"), for independent evaluation to the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru per the Terms of Reference detailed in the order dated 23.10.2020. It is respectfully submitted that both parties have 4 submitted the aforementioned sourcecode/codebase to the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru on 27.10.2020 and an evaluation report is awaited.
3. As things stand thus, it is respectfully submitted that the Parties have arrived at an amicable resolution of all disputes between them in relation to the subject matter of the proceedings instituted by the Petitioners-Plaintiffs consisting of: (a) the above writ petition; (b) the underlying suit in respect of which this writ petition has been filed (Comm. O.S. No. 215/ 2020), as well as in relation to the subject matter of the proceedings instituted by the Respondents-Defendants before various Courts/ authorities (further particulars of which are mentioned later in this Joint Memo). The terms of resolution, as agreed between the Parties, are as follows:
a. The Respondents shall pay an equivalent sum of USD 80000 (Eighty Thousand Dollars) to the Petitioner No 2. The Respondents acknowledge that they have no rights/claims over the Disputed Source Code i.e. the sourcecode/codebase of the Dukaan application as was then existing, as well as the sourcecodes/codebase of all other applications developed as part of the arrangement and all associated intellectual property rights and the Respondents shall have no objections to the Petitioner No 1 or any of its affiliates using it in any manner they deem fit. The Respondents acknowledge that they have no proprietary rights over the Disputed Source Code i.e. the sourcecode/codebase of the Dukaan application as was then existing or the sourcecodes / codebases of all other applications developed as part of the arrangement, as was then existing.
b. The Petitioner No 1 or Petitioner No.2, as elected by the Petitioner in writing, shall be duly issued and allotted common stock in the Respondent No 2-Company to the extent of 1% of the total issued and paid - up share capital of the Respondent No 2 as on the date of this Memo on a fully diluted basis at NIL cash consideration. The allotment of shares of Respondent No 2 in favour of the Petitioner No 1 or Petitioner No.2, as mentioned above, shall be completed by Respondent No 2 within a period of 2 weeks from the date of this Memo. For the avoidance of doubts, it is clarified that by virtue of owning 1% of total share capital as on the date of the Memo, as above, the Petitioner No 1 or Petitioner No. 2, as the case may be, shall only have such rights and 5 obligations as applicable to equity shareholders under the Companies Act, 2013.
c. On the assurance of the Respondents that the actions listed in 3(a) and 3(b) above will be strictly complied with, the Petitioners hereby:
i. undertake to immediately withdraw all legal proceedings and complaints filed by them (or on their behalf, including, but not limited to, by Aiplex Software Private Limited) against the Respondents in connection with the app 'Dukaan' (including the present writ petition, complaints made to Google Playstore, YouTube, etc.) and irrevocably give up all claims raised thereunder;
ii. acknowledge that all rights, including all intellectual property rights in respect of the New Sourcecode, the trademark "DUKAAN", including all variations thereof are exclusively owned by Respondent No. 2Company and Petitioners have no objection, and shall not, in any manner, claim ownership in or object to or challenge the use of the said New Sourcecode (including without limitation, on ground that the New Sourcecode infringes copyright of the Disputed Source Code) and trademarks by the Respondent No
2 and its affiliates including use of the same for the "Dukaan" app or any other software application on Google Playstore and any other platform;
iii. undertake to assist the Respondent No. 2, to the best of their ability, in ensuring that the "Dukaan" app is republished and made available on the Google Playstore, immediately;
iv. undertake to assist the Respondent No. 2, to the best of their ability, in ensuring that all videos and other content uploaded on Youtube or any other platform that have been taken down at the request of the Petitioner or its agents (including but not limited to Aiplex Software Private Limited) are republished / reinstated and made available on all such platforms, immediately;
v. undertake not to use the trademark "DUKAAN", or any variation thereof, in relation to any of its mobile application. The Respondents have no objection to use of the trademark "MYSTORE" by the Petitioners in relation to their mobile application.
64. The Respondents shall immediately, and in any event no later than two (2) weeks from the signing of this Joint Compromise Memo, withdraw Commercial Suit No 19 of 2020 pending before the Special Commercial Court, Gurugram ("Gurgaon Suit") as also Commercial Appeal FAO (COM) 5 of 2020 filed before the Hon'ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh.
5. The Parties shall immediately, and in any event no later than two (2) days from the signing of this Joint Compromise Memo, agree to a joint statement, in writing, to be issued to the public and media in respect of the present settlement.
6. Other than what is set out above, both parties agree that they have no further claims against each other in relation to the aforesaid proceedings filed/ instituted by both sides before various Courts/ authorities and the subject matter thereof. In addition, both parties withdraw, release and waive all the allegations and claims made against each other under the said proceedings.
7. All parties submit and confirm that they are authorized to perform their obligations under this compromise and shall be bound by the terms of the same.
WHEREFORE the Petitioners and the Respondents jointly pray that this Hon'ble Court be pleased to take this Joint Memo on record and dispose of the present Writ Petition and Comm O.S. No. 215 of 2020pending before the Learned LXXXIII Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge (CCH-84), Bengaluru in terms of the present Joint Memo, in the interest of justice and equity."
In view of the above, both this writ petition and the suit in COMM.O.S.No.215 Of 2020 stand disposed off in terms of the settlement. The interim order dated 25.09.2020 granted by this Court in the writ petition stands dissolved, consequently.
7The amount deposited or to be deposited by the parties in terms of the order dated 23.10.2020 shall be transmitted to the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru for being paid to those who had undertaken the task entrusted by this Court;
this Court places on record its deep appreciation of the IISC faculty for gracefully accepting the task, which because of the settlement between the parties now pales into insignificance.
The Registry shall send by Speed Post a copy of this order to the CEO of IISC, Bengaluru.
Sd/-
JUDGE DS