Delhi HC restrains ‘Dainik Divya Bhaskar’ from violating Dainik Bhaskar’s trademark

The Delhi High Court has granted a decree of permanent injunction in favour of owner of newspaper Dainik Bhaskar, against the owner of news website Dainik Divya Bhaskar..The judgment was delivered by Justice Prathiba M Singh..The suit was filed by the plaintiff company, which has several publications including “Dainik Bhaskar”, “Divya Bhaskar”, “Divya Marathi”, “Saurashtra Samachar”, “DNA”, etc. It has been using the names “Dainik Bhaskar” and “Divya Bhaskar” for its publications since 1958. It holds several registered trademarks for various derivatives of the said marks..The defendants on the other hand were running their own news website at the address www.dainikdivyabhaskar.com, in the name of Dainik Divya Bhaskar. The website had the same colour scheme as that of “Divya Bhaskar”, i.e. a blue and black combination..In June 2018, the plaintiff company issued a legal notice to the defendants to stop using the domain name as it was clearly violative of the former’s rights..The defendants, however, replied that the said domain name was being used since 2016, and was purchased and registered through www.godaddy.com..After the plaintiff company moved the High Court earlier this year, a temporary injunction was granted in its favour. Later, the defendants informed the Court that they were willing to settle the matter. However, no settlement took place, and the written statement was also not filed..Holding that if the defendant chooses not to file the written statement, it is not necessary in every case to direct the plaintiff to file its evidence, the Court proceeded to dispose of the matter..The Court took judicial notice of the fact that the newspapers of the plaintiff are published on a daily basis. It also observed that the “infringement was clear”..The use of the domain name/trade name ‘dainikdivyabhaskar.com’ is in violation of both the statutory and common law rights of the plaintiff, it stated..The Court further recorded that the website of the defendants has already been pulled down. Nonetheless, it was held that the plaintiff was entitled to a decree of permanent injunction..Imposing a cost of Rs 5 lakh on the defendants, the Court decreed,.“The suit is decreed in the terms stated above. Decree sheet be drawn accordingly. All pending I.A.s are disposed of.”.The plaintiff was represented by Advocate Rahul Malhotra. .Read the Judgment: