Law firm Singh & Singh settles trademark infringement suit in Delhi High Court against CA firm

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday passed a decree closing a trademark infringement suit initiated by law firm Singh & Singh against a chartered accountancy (CA) firm having an identical name, on the basis of mutual settlement [Singh and Singh Law Firm LLP & Anr v. Singh And Singh Chartered Accountants & Ors].

Justice Jyoti Singh today was informed that the two firms have reached a settlement in the dispute. Accordingly, the Court decreed the suit in terms of the settlement. It said,

“This application has been filed as the parties have arrived at an amicable settlement of the inter se dispute arising in the present suit. In light of the fact that the parties have amicably resolved their dispute in terms of settlement, relevant part of which is extracted above, which the Court has perused and finds the terms to be lawful, this application is allowed recording the settlement between the parties. The suit is decreed in terms of settlement between the parties in terms of paragraph 5 and 6 of the terms of agreement.”

The Court was informed that the chartered accountancy firm has changed its name to 'Singh M & Co'.

It also recorded submissions made by the CA firm that it would cooperate with the law firm to remove all infringing content from social media platforms and other websites. 

In the suit, law firm Singh & Singh submitted that it was established in 1997 and has been using the mark continuously since then. It submitted that the defendant, a Delhi-based CA firm, was also operating under the trademark “Singh & Singh” and was using identical domain name and social media handles.

On February 26, the Court passed an interim injunction order restraining the CA firm from using the mark ‘Singh & Singh’.

The Court noted that there is scope of confusion since the chartered accountancy firm provides legal services and also uses several legal terms on its profile. Also considering the factor that the CA firm uses identical names as the law firm, it may indicate that the two firms are associated with each other.

Justice Singh noted that several orders have been passed previously, granting similar relief to the law firm.

Advocates Kapil Midha and Ms. Runjhun Garg appeared for Singh and Singh Law Firm LLP.

Advocate Monika Pandey appeared for Singh and Singh Chartered Accountants.

[Read order]