ASWAL ASSOCIATES- Intellectual Property Law firm India

South African Breweries International (Finance) B.V. a company registered in Netherlands, along with its Indian joint venture company, promoted with SAB Group filed a suit for permanent injunction, rendition of accounts, damages and delivery up of the infringing packaging and material against Mohan Goldwater Breweries Ltd in year 2002 & Anr. The trademark “CASTLE”, which was originally adopted and used by Charles Glass, doing business as Glass & Company in respect of “beer”, in the year 1884. In 1895, Glass & Company was taken over by the South African Breweries Limited, which assigned worldwide rights in the trademark CASTLE to Avalon International Incorporate, which subsequently changed its name to SABMARK International Incorporated. Subsequently, SABMARK International assigned those rights to South African Breweries International Holdings Inc., which, in turn, assigned them to South African Breweries International (Finance) B.V i.e. Plaintiff herein. It claimed regis...

In a suit for for permanent injunction, rendition of accounts, damages and delivery up of the infringing packaging and material filed by South African Breweries International (Finance) B.V. a company registered in Netherlands, along with its Indian joint venture company, promoted with SAB Group against Mohan Goldwater Breweries Ltd in year 2002 & Anr. Delhi High Court held that Injunction can be sought not only in a case of CS actual use but also in a case of threatened use of a trademark. The owner of a trademark is well within his right in coming to the Court, for grant of an injunction, the moment he has a genuine apprehension that the defendant is likely to infringe his mark or to pass off his goods as those of the plaintiff. He need not necessarily wait till actual invasion of his rights and the law entitles him to take remedial action, well in time, whenever there is a reasonable threat of his right being invaded.

In Re: Glaverbel S.A. vs Dave Rose & Ors., Justice A. K. Pathak, Delhi High Court rejects IA seeking amendment in claims as allowed in another suit without amending the present suit. The Court also relied on certified copy of Patent Office wherein the amendment sought in claim did not reflect. Here the Plaintiff vide an interlocutory Application 12535/2011 (under Section 151 of CPC)sought the amendment in present suit (CS (OS) no. 594/2007 of independent claim 1 as allowed in CS (OS) no. 593/2007. The originally allowed claim under Patent No. 190380 read as under A Mirror with no copper layer comprising: i) a vitreous substance, ii) at least one material selected from the group consisting of bismuth, chromium, gold, indium, nickel, palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, titanium, vanadium and zinc at the surface of the said substrate, iii) a silver coating layer on the surface of the said substrate, said silver layer optionally comprising at least one material selected from...