SHOUKKATH.J Vs. M.MUHAMMED NOUSHAD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The defendant in an action for infringement of a trade mark has come up in this appeal challenging the order of temporary injunction passed against him in the suit.

(2.) The case of the plaintiff is that he is engaged in the manufacture and sale of jewellery and related goods in the name 'Panikkassery Jewellers' from the year 1996; that the name 'Panikkassery' has been registered by him as his trade mark under the Trade Marks Act; that during the year 2002, the defendant who is the brother-in-law of the plaintiff has opened a jewellery under the name 'Shehanaz Panikkassery Jewellers' in the vicinity of the jewellery of the plaintiff and that the use of the name 'Panikkassery' by the defendant amounts to infringement of the trade mark of the plaintiff. The relief sought in the suit is a prohibitory injunction restraining the defendant from infringing the registered trade mark of the plaintiff.

(3.) Along with the suit, I.A. No. 1319 of 2014 was filed by the plaintiff seeking an order of temporary injunction restraining the defendant and others acting under him from infringing the trade mark of the plaintiff by using the name 'Panikkassery'. The defendant contested the application for temporary injunction contending inter alia that 'Panikkassery' is the family name of his wife; that it was he who started 'Panikkassery Jewellers' in the year 1996 with the plaintiff; that under a family arrangement, he has given up his rights in the business carried on in the name 'Panikkassery Jewellers'; that at the time of parting, there was no agreement that the defendant shall not use the name 'Panikkassery' and that therefore, the use of the name 'Panikkassery' by the defendant will not amount to infringement.