INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES LTD Vs. ADINATH INFOSYS PVT LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff-company, which was initially incorporated in the name and style of Infosys Consultants Private Limited and which changed its name to Infosys Technologies Private Limited on 2nd June, 1992, is engaged in the business of providing IT services, solutions, consulting and business process management. The business of the plaintiff-company includes designing enterprise architecture, enterprise data and information security, software product development, customized software development, application maintenance, infrastructure maintenance, application testing, package application implementation roll-out and maintenance, business process modeling, business process outsourcing, business consulting and operations consulting, engineering design for products/hardware, or any combination thereof. These services and solutions are being offered by the plaintiff-company across various industry segments like banking, capital markets, insurance, healthcare, life sciences, retail, high-technology, discrete manufacturing, communication service providers, automobiles, aerospace, resources, energy and utilities. The plaintiff-company has its presence in various countries and has offices in Atlanta, Bellevue, Bidgewater, Charlotte, Detroit, Fremont, Houston, Lake Forest, Lisle, New York, Phoenix, Piano, Quincy, Reston, and Toronto in North America; Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Geneva, Helsinki, London, Milan, Oslo, Paris, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Utrecht and Zurich in Europe; Beijing, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Melbourne, Shanghai, Sharjah, Sydney and Tokyo in Asia Pacific; and Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Mumbai, Mysore, New Delhi, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram in India.

(2.) INFOSYS is the registered trademark/service mark of the plaintiff-company in various Classes including Class 16 in respect of computer software. This is the case of the plaintiff-company that on account of continuous, extensive and substantial use of the mark INFOSYS by it over two decades combined with the excellent services offered by it under the aforesaid name this mark has become distinctive of the plaintiff-company in the eyes of the customers not only in India but in other countries as well. This is also the case of the plaintiff-company that use of the mark INFOSYS implies that the goods/services being offered under this mark are originating from the plaintiff-company and the user of this mark is in some manner or the other associated with the plaintiff-company. It is claimed that the software development by the plaintiff-company are of excellent quality and acclaimed throughout the world for their utilitarian value. The plaintiff-company claims to have received a number of awards as detailed in para 14 of the plaint and had revenue of Rs.9028 crore in the year 2005- 06 and Rs.3655 crore in one quarter of the year 2006-07.

(3.) The defendant company is engaged in the business of website development and is offering web design & management and providing computer training courses affiliated to Aptech Computer Education. It is alleged that the business of the defendants relates to computer related products/services and is directly relatable to plaintiff?s business. The defendant has been using the expression INFOSYS as a part of its corporate name. The website of the defendant company also uses the expression INFOSYS as a part of the domain name of the defendant No.1 company. The plaintiff sent a cease and desist notice to the defendants on 3rd January, 2005. The defendants, however, continued to use the expression INFOSYS as a part of their corporate/trade name. The plaintiff has sought an injunction restraining the defendants from using the mark/expression INFOSYS as a part of their corporate/trade name. They have also sought an injunction restraining the defendants from passing off their goods and services as those of the plaintiff-company by using the name of INFOSYS. The plaintiff has sought delivery up of the material containing the name INFOSYS and damages amounting to Rs.20 lac.