[Coke Studio v Cook Studio] Delhi High Court refers trademark infringement dispute for mediation

The Delhi High Court has referred for mediation a trademark infringement dispute between international music franchise ‘Coke Studio’ and cooking platform named ‘Cook Studio’..Justice Prathiba M Singh has said that an attempt should be made to amicably resolve the dispute through mediation first. The Court, therefore, appointed Senior Advocate Rajeev Virmani to act as mediator in the matter and asked both the parties to appear before him on May 31, 2022..Justice Singh court was dealing with a suit by one Nikhil Chawla stating that he is proprietor of a firm trading as ‘The Chawla Group’ and is running a popular online platform called ‘Cook Studio’.The platform is engaged in the activity of blogging, production of video films, and training, particularly related to cooking.The High Court was informed that the plaintiff received notice from the defendant (The Coca Cola Company) asking him to desist from using the mark COOK STUDIO for his culinary related blog..Counsel appearing for Coca Cola also argued that use of the mark ‘Cook Studio’ would constitute infringement of its mark ‘Coke Studio’.However, the plaintiff said there is complete disparity in the logo and colour combination of the two marks and the works ‘Cook’ and ‘Studio’ are also generic words..After hearing the arguments, the Court asked both parties to appear for mediation.“It appears to this Court that an attempt ought to be made to amicably resolve this dispute through mediation in the first place. Accordingly, both parties are referred to the Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre on 31st May, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. Mr. Rajeev Virmani, ld. Senior Counsel is appointed to act as the Mediator in this matter,” the Court said in its order..Meanwhile, summons have also been issued to the Coca Cola Company asking it to file its written statement within 30 days. Liberty was given to the plaintiff to file its replication within 15 days.The matter will be placed before Joint Registrar for marking of exhibits on July 28 and the Court will deal with it on September 12..Advocates Adarsh Ramanujan and Lzafeer Ahmad appeared for the plaintiff.Defendant was represented by advocates Anuradha Salhotra, Naval Kastia, Naval Bhardwaj and Priyanka Anand..[Read Order]