The District Judge (Commercial)–05, South East Delhi, Ms. Neelam Singh, has granted a permanent injunction in favour of Carnatic Café in a trademark infringement and passing off suit against Lemonpepper Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. and its directors, who were operating restaurants in Bengaluru under the name “CARNATIC.”
The Court held that the defendants’ use of the mark “CARNATIC” was identical and deceptively similar to the plaintiff’s registered trademark CARNATIC CAFÉ and amounted to infringement under Section 29 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, as well as passing off and unfair competition.
The suit, filed in April 2019, resulted in an ex parte ad-interim injunction on the same day, restraining the defendants from using the mark. Despite being granted multiple opportunities, the defendants failed to file their written statement within the statutory period, leading to the striking off of their defence. Subsequently, the defendants filed an affidavit in 2022 acknowledging compliance with the injunction and undertaking not to use the mark “CARNATIC” in future.
On examining the uncontroverted evidence including the plaintiff’s trademark registrations, restaurant materials, sales records, and proof of defendants’ use of the impugned mark on physical outlets and online platforms such as Zomato, Facebook, JustDial, and the domain www.carnaticrestaurant.com the Court found the plaintiff’s claim fully established.
The Court permanently restrained the defendants, along with their agents and associates, from using the mark “CARNATIC” or any identical or deceptively similar mark in connection with restaurant or allied services. It further directed the defendants to transfer the domain name www.carnaticrestaurant.com, to the plaintiff within four weeks. In addition, the Court awarded ₹50,000 as damages and ₹10,000 as costs to the plaintiff.
