TODAY TEA LTD Vs. TODAY FOODS PVT LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) 'Chai-Biscuits' - this oft-used term is at the core of the present dispute. The Plaintiff sells tea under the mark TODAY. The Defendant sells biscuits under the same mark. As the expression 'Chai-biscuits' conveys, Tea and biscuits go hand in hand. They are products served together in every home and every street corner tea stall across the country. They form part of the early morning staple diet of millions of people across the world including India. Both these are cognate and allied products.

(2.) The Plaintiff - Today Tea Ltd. (hereinafter, "Plaintiff") has filed the present suit seeking injunction restraining the infringement of its registered trademark, passing off, damages, etc. The Plaintiff claims to be the owner of the trade mark "TODAY" in respect of tea, which falls in class 30. The case of Plaintiff is that its "TODAY" tea mark was adopted since 1st January 1994 and is extremely well known and popular. Its annual sales figures for the year 2003, at the time when the suit was filed, was approximately Rs.12 crores and the same is now claimed to have increased by multiple times. The trademark "TODAY" has been registered in favour of the Plaintiff in class 30 vide registration nos.630093 and 1256057. The grievance in this suit is that the Plaintiff acquired knowledge of the Defendant's adoption of the mark "TODAY" in respect of biscuits, which according to them constituted infringement of its mark. The packagings used by the Defendant are placed on record.

(3.) Summons were initially issued in the suit on 10th November, 2003. In the admission/denial, the Defendant admitted both its products i.e. Cream Crunch Elaichi Biscuits and Glucose Biscuits, which bear the mark "TODAY". Both these packaging are exhibited as Ex.P1 and Ex.P2.