RANA STEELS Vs. RAN INDIA STEELS PVT LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) TWO applications shall be disposed of by this order. The first application (IA. No. 9165/2007) has been filed by the plaintiff under Order 39 rules 1 and 2 read with Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (hereinafter referred to as the 'cpc') and the second application (IA. No. 10779/2007) has been filed by the defendant under the provisions of Order 39 rule 4 CPC for vacation of the ex parte interim injunction which was granted by this Court on 14. 08. 2007 on the first application, that is, IA 9165/2007. The Ex Parte Order:

(2.) A reading of the order dated 14. 08. 2007 reveals that the plaintiff claimed itself to be the proprietor of the registered trademark ?rana? in respect of its products which include steel rolled products, C. T. D bars, angles, flats, rounds, channels and girders. The plaintiff had stated that it had used the said trademark since 1993 continuously and that it had applied for the registration of the trademark on 14. 12. 1994 which was finally granted on 03. 03. 2006. The said registration was in Class 6 specified in Schedule IV to the Trade Marks Rules, 2002. It may be pertinent to note that while the application for registration was made at the time when the Trade and Merchandise marks Act, 1958 was in operation, the actual registration was done on 03. 03. 2006 and in view of Section 159 (2) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, it would be deemed to be a registration under the said Act of 1999.

(3.) IT was also stated that the sales of the plaintiff in respect of the goods in question run into several crores of rupees. It was alleged by the plaintiff that the defendant had recently started using the trademark "rana TOR" in respect of identical products, namely, steel bars. The plaintiff, as stated in the plaint, came to know of this in July 2007 and, consequently, had immediately approached this Court by filing this suit. On the basis of the statements made in the plaint and the documents filed along with the plaint as well as the submissions made by the learned counsel for the plaintiff, the following order was passed on 14. 08. 2007:-