KAPIL WADHWA Vs. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO. LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The interesting issue, in the field of the Trade Mark law, which arises for consideration in the instant appeal has an immense bearing on trade and commerce in India. This perhaps is the reason why the learned Single Judge has laboriously dealt with the issues and has painstakingly coalesced the arguments and collaged the ratio of law in 30 judicial pronouncements. While chartering the voyage the learned Single Judge has steered the ship in the choppy waters guided by what he saw to be lighthouses. Since we are renavigating the same waters, our job in appeal would be to see : Whether what were perceived to be lighthouses were actually mirages, and due to which, on the wrong belief that these were rocky areas, the course of the ship was steered in a wrong direction to reach a wrong port of destination.

(2.) The waters are that the respondents (=Samsung Electronics Company Ltd.' and =Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd.') are companies incorporated as per laws of Korea and India respectively; the latter being a subsidiary of the former. They are a part of =Samsung Group of Companies' having 14 listed companies and 285 worldwide operations. The respondents manufacture and trade in electronic goods such as colour televisions, home appliances, washing machines, microwaves, air-conditioners, computers, printers & cartridges etc. The business is done under the brandname/corporate-name using the Trade Mark =SAMSUNG/Samsung'. In India, the first respondent has licensed the use of the Trade Mark =SAMSUNG/Samsung' to the second respondent as per Trade Mark Agreement dated July 08, 2003 which has been filed for registration in the Trade Mark's Registry. The respondents are the registered proprietor/user of the Trade Mark as under:- <FRM>JUDGEMENT_4339_ILRDLH22_2012_1.html</FRM>

(3.) The issue pertains to what is popularly known as parallelimports/grey-market goods.