“Microsoft” is “well known” trademark, rules Delhi HC, grants Rs. 5 lakh as damages; Anand & Anand appear for Microsoft

The Delhi High Court has ruled that the trademark “Microsoft” is a well known trademark thereby permanently injuncting others from using the said trademark in relation to similar or dissimilar business..The judgment was delivered on February 3 by Justice Manmohan Singh in a petition filed by Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft) against Kurapati Venkata Jagdeesh Babu (Defendant) for permanent injunction, restraining infringement and dilution of trademarks, passing off and damages against the Defendant..Anand & Anand Senior Partner Pravin Anand, Vaishali Mittal and Neha Reddy represented Microsoft. The judgment was passed ex parte since no one appeared on behalf of the Defendant..The case of Microsoft was that the Defendant had made a trademark application for “MICROSOFT MULTIMEDIA” which was later withdrawn when Microsoft filed an opposition. Subsequently, Microsoft discovered that the Defendant had also wrongly registered a domain name “www.microsoftmultimedia.com”..It was Microsoft’s contention that its goodwill and reputation had been adversely affected by the illegal infringing activities of the Defendant. It had claimed that since its highly distinctive trademark has been used extensively over a long period of time and spanned a wide geographical area, it had acquired the status of a ‘well-known’ trademark..Alleging that the illegal use of the trademark by the Defendant had caused pecuniary loss and damage to its reputation and goodwill, Microsoft had prayed for a declaration of the trademark MICROSOFT as ‘well known’ and had also sought damages of Rs. 20 lakh..The Court held that relief can be claimed under Section 29(4) of the Trademark Act, 1999 if the registered trademark is used as part of the corporate name even though the business of the infringer is in goods or services other than those for which the mark is registered. Applying it to the instant case the Court held that,.“As per the material placed on record and the statement made in the plaint and in the affidavit which have been proved in evidence, it is evident that the trademark Microsoft is a well known trade mark. The same is known to most of the people in the entire world. No one is entitled to use the same either as a trade mark or part of its trading style/corporate name in relation to similar or dissimilar business as the said trade mark has got a unique goodwill and reputation…..The plaintiff is entitled for a decree for permanent injunction in terms of Para 21(a) and (b) of the plaint. “.The Court also awarded Rs. 2 lakh to Microsoft as compensatory damages and Rs. 3 lakh as punitive/exemplary damages as well as damages on account of loss of its reputation and goodwill..You can read the judgment below..Image taken from here..Microsoft v. Kurapati Venkata Jagdeesh Babu