Authority: High Court at Calcutta, Intellectual Property Rights Division
Order Date: 14 October 2026
Case Overview
- Plaintiff: Malhotra International Private Limited.
- Defendants: Rohan Malhotra and others (individuals).
- Plaintiff alleges infringement and passing‑off of its registered trademarks “PANAMA” and “PANAMA PLUS”.
- Defendant No.1 filed a rectification application against the plaintiff’s mark on 25 March 2026.
- Plaintiff filed a counter‑affidavit on 15 May 2026 contesting the rectification.
- Defendant No.2 (associate of Defendant No.3) applied for registration of “Panamark” and other deceptive marks on 23 April 2026, advertised 29 June 2026.
- Defendant No.3 (controlled by Defendant No.1) applied for registration of a deceptively similar “PANAMA” mark on 1 September 2026, advertised 28 September 2026.
- Plaintiff contends cause of action arose only after discovering the deceptive product in the market in September 2026.
- The court examined Section 124 of the Trade Marks Act 1999 (stay provisions) and Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act 2015 (mandatory formalities), citing Supreme Court precedents (Patil Automation 2022, Yamini Manohar 2023).
Final Outcome
- The request to dispense with the mandatory formalities under Section 12A of the 2015 Act is refused.
- The plaint is returned to the plaintiff with the court fees to enable compliance with Section 12A before instituting the suit.
- The suit number assigned in the Central Filing Department shall be de‑registered from the court’s database after formalities are completed.
- No urgent interim relief is granted for the infringement action; the passing‑off claim cannot be separated for separate relief.
Topics: Trademark Infringement, Court Procedure