HT MEDIA LTD Vs. UTV NEWS LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff is a leading media house and it has added to its original business of publishing a well-known newspaper by the name of Hindustan Times by making forays into radio and the internet. THE plaintiff's flagship publication has wide acceptability and the newspaper, originally a leading daily in Delhi, has also a Calcutta edition. A few years back the plaintiff launched a business daily by the name of Mint in collaboration with a reputed international business newspaper. THE plaintiff claims that Mint has gained wide circulation over a short span of time and owes much of its phenomenal success to its readers having access to the worldwide business news covered by the much acclaimed Wall Street Journal. THE plaintiff says that Mint has an impressive circulation of over 1,20,000 copies daily in six cities in the country, including Calcutta, and counts reputed commercial institutions and entrepreneurs in its list of annual subscribers.

(2.) The story unfolds with the plaintiff releasing a series of advertisements in May, 2009 where there is an announcement in the form of a sentence with only some of the words in English; the other apparent words are made up of Greek letters that may or may not constitute words in that language. THE plaintiff cm barked on a high-profile publicity drive by launching the advertisement campaign in the print media, the essential message whereof was contained in the following slogan appearing at the foot of each advertisement: "Presenting Mint, refreshing clarity in business news." Below such slogan there are two further lines in smaller print to the following effect: Clear and well-analysed business minus the jargon. Global perspective with an exclusive section from THE Wall Street Journal. Everyday.

(3.) The English and Greek writings are different in the several advertisements and immediately below the main announcement that is the striking feature of each advertisement, there is a question posed. In one, the question is: "Is this how you get your business news?" In another the advertisement asks: "Tired of complicated business news?" THE announcement in every case contains one or two English words relating to business or the commercial world. THE predominant sense of the advertisement is that business news is generally incomprehensible, so much so that even parts of solitary sentences used in the dissemination thereof may be beyond the audience, but the plaintiffs newspaper presents it in a lucid, simple manner.