The Delhi High Court recently issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Social 75 eatery in Jamshedpur from using the co-working café chain’s registered trademark. In her ruling, Justice Jyoti Singh noted that the infringing trademark was misleadingly similar to Social’s.
The balance of convenience is in favour of the plaintiff and it is likely to suffer irreparable injury if the injunction, as requested for, is not granted, thus the court rules that the plaintiff has made out a prima facie case for award of an ex parte ad-interim injunction.
The owner of Social, the defendant Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality addressed the High Court after learning that the offending trademark, “SOCIAL 75,” had been the subject of a trademark application by the plaintiff.
It was argued that the defendant had purposefully added the suffix “75” to the trademark “SOCIAL,” and it was logical to infer that the objective was to tell the public that the plaintiff had launched its 75th “SOCIAL” in Jamshedpur. Furthermore, it was claimed that the defendant adopted a trademark that was misleadingly similar
in order to misrepresent the plaintiff as the manufacturer of these items.
The Court prohibited the owners of the Jamshedpur location from using the “Social” trademark until the next date of hearing on the grounds that the plaintiff’s chain of eateries and cafes may suffer irreparable harm if the injunction was not granted.
In addition, the Court ordered the owners of “Social 75” and everyone connected to it to take down any and all references to the “Social” trademark on websites owned by third parties where its products or services were being sold, marketed, or advertised. The Court further stated, “Plaintiff shall comply with the conditions of Order 39 Rule
3 CPC within ten days from today.”
The defendants were also given notice and summonses by the court, along with instructions to submit an affidavit of admission or denial of the plaintiff’s documents.
On November 31, the subject will be heard again. Advocates Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality were represented by Shikha Sachdeva, Mugdha Palsula, and Shreya Das. For the defendant, none were present.
