Rajasthan High Court lifts stay on release of movie Jigra

The Rajasthan High Court on Thursday lifted the stay imposed by a commercial court on the release of Dharma Productions' upcoming film Jigra [Dharma Production Pvt Ltd. v Bhallaram Choudhary].

The stay had been imposed in response to a trademark infringement application.

A Division Bench of Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Munnuri Laxman of the High Court found that prima facie, the movie did not infringe trademark rights.

"Moreover, the appellant is not trading in the name of 'Jigra', rather it is M/s. Dharma Production Private Limited. Thus, the goods and services rendered by Dharma Production Private Limited by naming a movie as 'Jigra' cannot be said to be an infringement of trademark laws," the Court added.

On October 8, a commercial court in Jodhpur had passed an ad interim injunction order against the release of the film after one Bhallaram Choudhary filed a trademark infringement application claiming that Jigra was his trademark.

Subsequently, Dharma Productions moved Rajasthan High Court to have the commercial court's order stayed. The production house argued that it was not trading goods and services so as to amount to trademark infringement.

On the other hand, Choudhary argued that since his trademark was registered in the field of education and entertainment, it deserved protection.

The Court considered the three parameters for injunction - prima facie case, irreparable loss and balance of convenience.

It then took the view that the movie would not infringe trademark rights.

It noted that if still a violation was made out, the same could be remedied by monetary compensation but Dharma Productions could not be put to financial loss.

Accordingly, the Court stayed the commercial court's order and listed the matter for further hearing on October 16.

[Read Order]