Delhi High Court grants interim relief to UltraTech Cement in trademark suit against 'Ultra Plus Cement'

The Delhi High Court recently granted interim relief to cement market leader UltraTech Cement in its trademark infringement suit against another cement brand called 'UltraPlus'. (Ultra Tech Cement Private Ltd & Anr v. Ultra Plus Cement Private Ltd & Ors).Justice Navin Chawla held that UltraTech was able to show the reputation and goodwill that it possessed in the mark ‘Ultra’ and its variants."The plaintiffs and general consumer are likely to suffer grave irreparable injury in case the ad interim injunction is not granted in favour of the plaintiffs and against the defendants," the Court reasoned..UltraTech, which had registered its trademark in 2013, had moved the High Court claiming that the defendants had adopted a deceptively similar mark ‘Ultra Plus’ and had filed an application seeking registration of the mark ‘Ultra Plus’..The Court rejected the defendant's reliance on a Bombay High Court order dated from 2016 which had noted that no person can claim exclusive right over the mark ‘Ultra’. Distinguishing the present case from the 2016 one, the Court noted,"...it is seen that the said order, apart from noting that no person can claim exclusive right over the mark ‘Ultra’, also observed that the use of the mark by the defendants therein was not deceptively similar to that of the plaintiffs."Further, the Court said that the goods of the two cement companies were the same and any resemblance in the marks was likely to deceive an unwary consumer about the association of Ultra Plus Cement products with those of UltraTech.It thus restrained the defendants from using the Ultra Plus mark till further orders..The Court also clarified,"It is made clear that the present order has been passed only on a prima facie view of the dispute and shall be open for re-consideration once the reply to the application is filed by the defendants," the Court said.It thus issued notice and summons to the proprietors of Ultra Plus Cement.The matter will be heard next on December 20..Advocates Pravin Anand, Prachi Agarwal and Ridhie Bajaj appeared for UltraTech Cement. Advocates Ayush Sharma and Pawanshree Agarwal appeared for Ultra Plus Cement..[Read order here]