MOHAMED NOORULLA Vs. SYED HEDAYATHTULLA SAHIB AND ANR.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These appeals are filed under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against the judgment of Anantanarayanan J., affirming on appeal the order of the Deputy Registrar of Trade Marks, Bangalore, who directed the registration of two trade marks applied for by the first Respondent. Both the Appellant as well as the first Respondent are manufacturers and sellers of beedies. From the figures available, it appears that the Appellant's business is more extensive, roughly about four times as much as the first Respondent's. But the first Respondent's turn over cannot be regarded as any way inconsiderable. Both of them have considerable and increasing sales of their products since the year 1946 and they have also been spending substantial amounts in advertising their goods.

(2.) In January 1948, there was an exhibition at Triveliore in connection with an Agricultural Conference held at the place. The Appellant and the first Respondent who were allotted stalls near each other, competed in the matter of effective display of their goods, using prominently their respective trade marks. The first Respondent's advertisement was adjudged to be the best in the exhibition and he was awarded a gold medal, a silver cup and a certificate of merit for its excellence.

(3.) In September 1948, the first Respondent applied to the Deputy Registrar of Trade Marks, Bangalore, to register the two trade marks which he had been using. The design and get up of these marks were substantially similar to the one which had been used by the Appellant. The captions adopted for the first Respondent's two labels are: