Havells India Limited and Ors. v. Vivek Kumar and Ors. - (High Court of Delhi) (30 Apr 2016)

Havells wins trade mark battle against upcoming IPO

MANU/DE/1021/2016

Intellectual Property Rights

Havells Pvt. Ltd. trade mark infringement suit against a similarly titled company survived dismissal for lacking a fresh cause of action. The suit was predicated on the Defendants’ Draft Red Herring Prospectus towards its proposed Initial Public Offering, which depicted the ‘Havell’s’ mark prominently.

In an earlier judgment, the court had ruled in favour of Plaintiffs, restraining Defendants from using the mark in any capacity. However, Defendants had not disclosed in the Prospectus that in 1988 such an order had been passed against them.

The Court ordered inclusion of disclaimers distancing Defendants’ business from that of Havells. It also accepted the Defendants’ timely inclusion of a statement in the Prospectus that the ‘Havell’s’ mark belonged to the Plaintiffs.

Relevant : Bengal Waterproof Limited v. Bombay Waterproof Manufacturing Company & Another MANU/SC/0327/1997 Dolphin Laboratories Ltd. v. Arun Kumar Bansal, MANU/DE/0223/1995

Tags : HAVELLS TRADE MARK IPO DISCLOSURE