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A case has been decided by the High Court of Delhi relating to the ownership of the trademark “Premium Tissues”. The case, Premier Tissues India Ltd vs Rolia Tissues Industries & Anr, was a dispute between the parties for ownership of the trademark “Premium/ Premier” with regard to tissue papers. The parties sought for an injunction against each other for preventing the other from using the trademark. The court held that where it is established that the trademarks are infringing upon one another, the question as to the ownership of the mark can be answered based on the determination of the fact as to which of the parties was the prior user of the mark.
In this case the plaintiffs were manufacturing and selling tissue papers under the trademark “Premier” and the defendants were manufacturing and selling tissue papers under the trademark “Premium”. The plaintiff, who is based in Bangalore, is a considerably big company with an annual turnover of Rs.176,57,25,000 (One Hundred and Seventy Six Crores Fifty Seven Lac Twenty Five Thousand) last year and their clientele consists of reputed companies like Wipro, Infosys, Taj Group of Hotels, Meridien Group of Hotels, Manipal Hospitals, Apollo Hospitals etc. The defendants, who are based in Delhi are not such a big entity.
Both the parties in the case concurred on the fact that their respective marks were infringing upon each other. Hence, the court pronounced that it only had to decide who the prior user of the mark was. It held that the burden of proving prior use heavily rested on the person claiming it and failure to prove it would defeat the claim. In this case the evidence of prior use was in favour of the plaintiffs. The date of application and use claimed by the parties in the trade mark registry, advertisements in media like newspapers, magazines, articles in newspapers, documents relating to creation of a website in the name of trademark were considered as valid evidences. Also the fact that the defendants had agreed with the Trademark Registry to a disclaimer that they did not have exclusive right over the word “Premium” went against the defendants.
Author: Himendra
See also: A moment of ecstasy for DCM Shriram
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