Delhi High Court restrains IT company from using Infosys trademark

The Delhi High Court recently restrained a company named Southern Infosys Limited from using the mark ‘INFOSYS’ in any manner after the IT giant sued them for trademark infringement [Infosys Limited v. Southern Infosys Limited]. .In an interim order passed on May 27, Justice Sanjeev Narula ruled that the defendant's use of the mark ‘INFOSYS’ not only infringes upon Infosys' trademark rights, but also risks causing confusion among consumers and diluting the trademark’s commercial value.“The Defendant is restrained from using the mark ‘INFOSYS’ as part of their corporate/ trade name ‘Southern Infosys Limited’ or in any other manner amounting to infringement of the Plaintiff’s trademarks. The Defendant is afforded a period of four months from the date of release of this order, to make the transition to a non-infringing tradename. Immediately after the expiry of the four months period, the Defendant shall cease the use of the mark ‘INFOSYS,’ as part of their trade name/ corporate name or in any other manner amounting to infringement of the Plaintiff’s trademarks,” the Court ordered. .The Court rejected the defendant’s contention that the term ‘INFOSYS’ is merely an abbreviation of the words ‘information’ and ‘systems,’ suggesting that its usage is generic and descriptive of the services provided.It said there is no basis for the Court to hold, at a prima facie stage, that the term ‘INFOSYS’ was generic.The Bench further held that while ‘INFOSYS’ might have begun as a potentially descriptive term, it has undoubtedly acquired a secondary meaning that links it indelibly to the plaintiff..Infosys had sued Southern Infosys Limited arguing that the use of its well-known trademark constitutes infringement under Section 29(5) of the Trade Marks Act. The Court was told that this section explicitly prohibits the use of a registered trademark as part of a corporate name, in a manner that could imply a business connection or endorsement by the trademark owner, thus leading to potential confusion among the public.While holding in favour of Infosys, Court held,"While the Plaintiff has indeed taken a considerable amount of time to initiate the present lawsuit, this delay does not extinguish the Plaintiff’s rights under trademark law, particularly given the continuous use of their trademark.".Advocates Peeyoosh Kalra, CA Brijesh, V Mohini and Ishith Arora appeared for Infosys Limited.Southern Infosys Limited was represented through Advocate Piyush Kaushik..[Read Order]