HINDUSTAN LEVER LIMITED MADRAS Vs. LUX FLAVOURS MADRAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE are appeals filed by the plaintiff against the common order passed by the learned Single Judge on the original side of this Court in O.A. Nos. 1004 and 1005 of 1992 and application Nos. 497 and 498 of 1993 in C.S. No. 1664 of 1992. The suit by the plaintiff was to restrain the defendants from infringing his trade mark 'Lux' which is registered in the name of the plaintiff in class 3 for soaps, perfumes, essential oils and cosmetics. The plaintiff had also sought for an injunction against the defendants for passing off the flavours and perfumes manufactured by it as those manufactured by the plaintiff by using the mark 'Lux' in relation to those products. The plaintiff's mark was registered in the year 1943.

(2.) THE case of the defendants is that it has commenced manufacture in 1981 that it had been regularly advertising its wares in the yellow pages ever since it commenced manufacture, that the product manufactured by it was flavours for uses in manufacture of liquors, ice creams and pharmaceuticals and that though it had a proposal to manufacture perfumery compounds and soap compounds, it had not undertaken the manufacture of these items. Its customers were bulk customers and they were manufacturers of other products like liquor aerated waters, ice creams etc. THE defendants denied that they had infringed the mark of the plaintiff or that they were deceiving the public by using the mark registered in the name of the plaintiff in relation to any of the goods with respect to which the mark was registered.

(3.) AFTER the injunction was vacated by the learned trial Judge the defendants have continued to manufacture and market the flavours and there has been to further interim order, which prevents them from doing so.