07th May 2019
The Delhi High Court has reiterated that registration of trademark under Section 17(1) of the Trademarks Act confers exclusive rights to use trademark as a whole and not a right of registration to individual parts.
The Court in this regard held that plaintiff can claim rights to use ‘Delhi International School’ label as well as the DIS logo as a whole, but not right to use words ‘Delhi International School’ as registered mark.
It prima facie rejected the plea that words ‘Delhi International School’ are a prominent part of the plaintiff’s label and, therefore, use of the said name would also amount to infringement of its trademark. It also observed that the specified words were not the prominent part of the said logo.
The Court in the case of Nav Jagriti Niketan Education Society v. Delhi International School also prima facie also rejected the plea of passing-off based on the interactive website.
The plaintiff had claimed that the cause of action regarding passing off arose in Delhi as the defendants have an interactive domain names through which the defendants are passing off within the territorial jurisdiction of the Court.
The Court however observed that students in Delhi would not seek admission elsewhere. It also observed that no material was placed on record to indicate that any of the defendants had succeeded in deceiving any person to believe that they are connected with the plaintiff or the schools run by them are affiliated with the plaintiff. However, relying on precedents, it also held that the question of jurisdiction must be considered on a demurer.