DONGGUAN HUALI INDUSTRIES CO. LTD. Vs. ANAND AGGARWAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In the instant lawsuit, the Plaintiff seeks, inter alia, a permanent injunction to prevent the Defendants from utilizing the trademark 'HUALI'. Defendant No. 1 has obtained statutory rights in the said mark by registering the same under No. 4146654 for goods categorised in Class 20. Nonetheless, the Plaintiff, asserting that they are the prior user of the 'HUALI' trademark, challenges the validity of Defendant No. 1's registration. The Plaintiff argues that in view of their prior usage rights, this registration does not diminish their entitlement to protect their trademark under the common law principles of passing off. Thus, we shall assess whether to grant an interim injunction in favour of the Plaintiff during the pendency of the instant lawsuit, upon considering the complexities of the facts presented by both sides and legal principles relating to passing off.Facts and Contentions

(2.) Mr. Varun Goswami, counsel for Plaintiff, has presented the following facts and contentions:

(3.) Mr. Chinmoy Pradip Sharma, Senior Counsel for Defendants, has controverted the aforenoted contentions. His submissions are summarised as follows: