CITIGROUP INC & ORS Vs. PUNEET MOTWANI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Present suit has been filed for permanent injunction restraining infringement of registered trademarks, passing off, dilution of trademark and unfair competition. The prayer clause is reproduced hereinbelow:-

(2.) Vide order dated 13th September, 2018, this Court had granted an ex parte ad interim injunction in favour of the plaintiffs and against the defendant. The relevant portion of the ex-parte injunction order is reproduced hereinbelow:- "Consequently, till further orders, defendants, its directors, partners, officers, employees, agents, distributors, suppliers, affiliates, subsidiaries, franchisees, representatives and assigns are restrained from carrying on any business or as corporate name or domain name or part of a domain/company name, whatsoever under the mark/trading name CITI, CITI WEALTH ADVISORS, CW, CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED and CITI with ARC design [3] or in any other manner whatsoever holding themselves out as agents and/or branch officers and/or in any other manner whatsoever masquerading as the plaintiffs' herein or from offering funds/ investment applications/agreements under the name CW MILLION OPPRTUNITIES FUND, CW DIVERSIFIED FUND and CW QUANT MULTIPLIER FUND or in any other name whatsoever so as to misrepresent the fund/investment as that of the plaintiffs or from providing services using the impugned mark CITI, CITI WEALTH ADVISORS, CW, [1], , CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED and CITI with ARC Design [3] or any other mark/device deceptively or confusingly similar to the plaintiffs' trade marks CITI, CITI WEALTH ADVISORS, CITIGROUP MARKETS INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED and CITI with ARC Design [3] and CITI Formative marks or from using the business card of the Indian subsidiary of the plaintiff No.1 Citigroup Global Markets India Private Limited bearing the impugned marks CITI and CITI with ARC Design, CITI WEALTH ADVISORS and the email id puneet.motwani@citi.com and/or any other mark/name which is identical/virtually identical and deceptively and/or confusingly similar to the plaintiffs' trademarks CITI, CITIGROUP and CITI with ARC Design. The Registrar is also directed to block the plaintiffs' domain name www.citiwealth.in."

(3.) This Court appointed a Local Commissioner to visit the premises of the defendant vide order dated 24th September, 2018. The Local Commissioner visited the premises of the defendant at (1) Sector Shop NO. 1, HSIIDC Market, HSIIDC International Road, Sector 31, Faridabad Haryana and (2) 210, Sector 10, Faridabad, Haryana. 26th and 27th September, 2018. The first premises of the defendant bore a CW/CW (Stylized) mark on its door. Apart from the aforesaid label displayed on the door, nothing else was found. The second premises of the defendant was locked.