INTEL CORPORATION Vs. NARESH NARULA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This judgment will decide the suit of the plaintiff seeking restrain against infringement of his trade mark, passing off and rendition of accounts. The suit was filed by Shri Rahul Sethi as attorney of the plaintiff who has signed and verified the pleadings and instituted the suit on its behalf. The suit concerns intellectual property rights of the plaintiff in the trade mark 'INTEL' and violation thereof by the defendant by using an identical mark INTEL on his electronic goods.

(2.) The plaintiff averred that on its own and through its subsidiaries, he is engaged in business relating to the fields of computers and parts thereof. Since its inception in 1968, the plaintiff has grown to be atruly global corporation. Plaintiff stated that currently it employs an estimated 78,000 people in its various subsidiary companies throughout the world and its global annual turnover for the year 2003 was in excess of US $ 30 billion. The plaintiff has business operations in excess of 40 countries in different continents. The plaintiff has used the mark/name INTEL in its corporate name and on is its products since 1968, the year it was incorporated. The use of name and mark INTEL was first commenced in the United States of America and subsequently extended to other countries of the world. The plaintiff also uses its INTEL mark on products beyond computers. Advances in digital technology and the use of this technology in the home entertainment environment have resulted in the plaintiff s micro processors and other INTEL branded products being increasingly used in many consumer electronic products, including set-top boxes, MP3 players, media centres, digital cameras, high definition television sets (HDTV), digital audio and video devices and household appliances such as microwave ovens. The plaintiff has launched a "digital home" initiative specifically to develop and distribute products and technologies to support new consumer usage models in the digital home.

(3.) The plaintiff averred that INTEL brand has been ranked among the top 10 brands by leading independent publications since as early as 1993. In the 1969 plaintiff adopted distinctive style for representing the mark INTEL, popularly known as INTEL 'dropped e logo'. Over the years, the INTEL 'droppede logo' has been given wide publicity and has come to be exclusively identified with the plaintiff's products. In the ear 1991, plaintiff adopted the INTEL inside and design mark and launched its revolutionary INTEL INSIDE program, a logo licensing and cooperative advertising program. Through this program, the INTEL inside and design logo appears on the front bezel of millions of computers around the world and the INTEL inside and design logo mark is seen extensively in computer manufacture advertisements.