Delhi High Court - Orders
Grupo Bimbo, S.A.B. De C.V vs Ishan Saluja & Ors on 23 April, 2024
Author: Sanjeev Narula
Bench: Sanjeev Narula
$~44
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CS(COMM) 306/2024, I.A. 8191/2024
GRUPO BIMBO, S.A.B. DE C.V. ..... Plaintiff
Through: Ms. Shikha Sachdeva and Ms. Kriti
Rathi, Advocates.
versus
ISHAN SALUJA & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: None.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV NARULA
ORDER
% 23.04.2024 I.A. 8188/2024 (on behalf of the Plaintiff under Order 39 Rule 1 & 2 read with Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908)
1. Pursuant to Court's directions, the Plaintiff has served a copy of the paper-book on the Defendants through WhatsApp, e-mail and dasti modes. Affidavits enclosing therewith the proof of service has also been filed. Despite service, there is no appearance of behalf of the Defendants and accordingly, the Court has proceeded to decide the question of issuance of ad-interim directions ex-parte.
2. The case of the Plaintiff, as presented by Ms. Shikha Sachdeva, counsel for Plaintiff, is as follows:
2.1. The Plaintiff is a multinational company incorporated in the year 1945 in Mexico that carries out the business of manufacture and sale of various CS(COMM) 306/2024 Page 1 of 5 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 25/04/2024 at 22:47:29 bakery products under the trademark "BIMBO". The mark was conceived by Plaintiff's founder Mr. Lorenzo Servijte in 1943. Later, in 1945, the Plaintiff also adopted a brand Mascot called 'Osito BIMBO', presently being represented through " " device. Gradually, over the course of their business activities, the Plaintiff devised various formative variations of the "BIMBO" trademarks, which have been utilised world over through online and physical channels.
2.2. The Plaintiff commenced its operations under the "BIMBO" trademark in India on 23rd August, 1993. Over time, they expanded their business in India through acquisitions/ joint ventures with other entities. Their global revenue and promotional expenditure figures have been delineated in paragraph No. 16 of the plaint.
2.3. The Plaintiff also holds trademark registrations for "BIMBO", its formative variants and " " device in classes 05, 29, 30, 35, and 43 for inter alia bakery products and allied activities, as spelt out in paragraph No. 17 of the plaint.
CS(COMM) 306/2024 Page 2 of 5This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 25/04/2024 at 22:47:29 2.4. In April, 2022, during a routine check, the Plaintiff discovered that the Defendants were operating bakeries/ cafes under the name/ mark "BIMBO CAKES"/ " "/ " " in Delhi-
NCR region.1 These marks are also openly promoted on various social media accounts, food delivery applications, and restaurant search platforms. The Plaintiff's search also revealed that Defendants had preferred an application for registration of the mark " " under No. 4022362, which was refused due to Plaintiff's prior registrations. 2.5. The Plaintiff's attorneys consequently addressed a cease-and-desist notice to the Defendants on 12th July, 2022 and 22nd August, 2022. In the period between August 2022 and 2023, the parties were negotiating an amicable settlement, which did not fructify and as per recent investigations, the Defendants are still utilising the impugned marks. Hence, the present suit.
3. The Court has considered the afore-noted contentions. A comparison of the rival trademarks is as follows:
1Collectively. "impugned marks".CS(COMM) 306/2024 Page 3 of 5
This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 25/04/2024 at 22:47:30
4. The impugned marks entirely incorporate the Plaintiff's registered "BIMBO" trademark and are used for identical goods and services. Such use has a strong potential of causing confusion amongst the general public, who would recall the impugned trademarks with the word/ mark "BIMBO", thereby rendering a false sense association with Plaintiff. Thus, prima facie, the impugned trademarks infringe the Plaintiff's registered trademarks.
5. In view of the above, the Plaintiff has made out a prima facie case in their favour and in case an ex-parte ad-interim injunction is not granted, Plaintiff will suffer an irreparable loss; balance of convenience also lies in favour of the Plaintiff and against the Defendants.
6. Accordingly, till the next date of hearing, the Defendants or any one acting on their behalf, are restrained from manufacturing, or authorizing the manufacture, distribution, exporting, selling, offering for sale, advertising, promoting, displaying and/or using, in any manner whatsoever, the impugned trademarks "BIMBO" and/or the devices CS(COMM) 306/2024 Page 4 of 5 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 25/04/2024 at 22:47:30 " "/ " ", or any other trademark, identical and/or deceptively or confusingly similar to the Plaintiff's registered trademarks as mentioned in the plaint, as a trademark/label or part of a trademark/label, tradename or a part of tradename, domain name or a part of domain name, or in any other manner whatsoever, which would amount to infringement of the Plaintiff's trademarks.
7. The Defendants shall also remove all references to the impugned trademarks from their social media accounts and other third-party websites, including Zomato, Swiggy, Magicpin, Justdial and Google Maps.
8. List on 23rd September, 2024.
SANJEEV NARULA, J APRIL 23, 2024 nk CS(COMM) 306/2024 Page 5 of 5 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 25/04/2024 at 22:47:30