Search Indian IP Case Law
Judgments of the Supreme Court and the High Courts on patents, trade marks, copyright, designs and geographical indications — organised by Act and section, each with a link to the judgment on the court’s website.
37 results
for “Passing Off”
ITC Limited v. Nestle India Limited
Common, laudatory or descriptive expressions used across an industry to denote the flavour or quality of a product cannot be monopolised by a single trader as a trade mark, even where that trader was the first to use the expressio…
Descriptive MarksGeneric MarksGoodwillPassing OffTrade MarksKaviraj Pandit Durga Dutt Sharma v. Navaratna Pharmaceutical Laboratories
An action for infringement of a registered trade mark is a statutory remedy in which the use of a deceptively similar mark is itself actionable regardless of get-up, packaging or intent to deceive, whereas an action for passing of…
Acquired DistinctivenessDeceptive SimilarityDescriptive MarksInfringementCopyrightKrishika Lulla & Ors. v. Shyam Vithalrao Devkatta & Anr.
The title of a literary, dramatic or cinematographic work, being ordinarily a short combination of common words, is not by itself a work in which copyright can subsist under Section 13(1)(a) of the Copyright Act, 1957, since it la…
Copyright InfringementIdea-Expression DichotomyLiterary WorkOriginalityTrade MarksLaxmikant V. Patel v. Chetanbhai Shah & Anr.
A trading or business name, though not a registered trade mark, is protectable in a passing off action once it has acquired goodwill through use; the tort protects established business reputation rather than the name itself, and n…
GoodwillInterim InjunctionPassing OffPersonal Name MarksTrade MarksMarico Limited v. Agro Tech Foods Limited
A trade mark consisting of ordinary descriptive words remains vulnerable to a competitor's bona fide descriptive use under Sections 30(2)(a) and 35 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, notwithstanding registration; such a mark attains pr…
Descriptive MarksDistinctivenessGeneric MarksPassing OffTrade MarksMarriott Worldwide Corporation v. Hotel Marriot Prime & Anr.
Where a defendant fails to contest a commercial suit despite service and a subsisting interim injunction, a court may grant summary judgment under Order XIII-A of the Code of Civil Procedure without recording oral evidence; and a …
DamagesDeceptive SimilarityPassing OffTrademark InfringementTrade MarksMilmet Oftho Industries & Ors. v. Allergan Inc.
In a passing off action concerning medicinal products with identical marks, prior use in the world market can prevail over a domestic company's later domestic use, since pharmaceutical trade and medical literature are internationa…
Deceptive SimilarityPassing OffPharmaceutical TrademarkPrior UserDesignsMohan Lal, Proprietor of Mourya Industries v. Sona Paint & Hardwares
Design infringement under the Designs Act, 2000 and passing off are separate causes of action resting on different rights, standards and defences; since a registered design is a time-bound statutory monopoly that enters the public…
Composite SuitCopyright Design OverlapDesign InfringementDesign RegistrationTrade MarksN.R. Dongre & Ors. v. Whirlpool Corporation & Anr.
A passing off action does not depend on registration of the mark in the country where protection is sought, and the goodwill necessary to sustain such an action may be established through transborder reputation built up by adverti…
GoodwillInterim InjunctionPassing OffTransborder ReputationTrade MarksNeon Laboratories Ltd. v. Medical Technologies Ltd. & Ors.
Under Section 34 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, actual continuous prior use of a mark in the market prevails over a rival's earlier-dated application for registration where the registrant remained inactive for a prolonged period; t…
Deceptive SimilarityNon-usePassing OffPrior User