Delhi High Court: In a case where Club Factory was involved in the sale of various unauthorized/ counterfeited products, bearing the registered marks of Louis Vuitton, the Single Judge Bench of Prathiba M. Singh, J. awarded costs of Rs. 20 lakhs in favour of Louis Vuitton, though the bill placed on record showed a total claim of over Rs. 32 lakhs.
Background
The present matter had been listed for 3-11-2022, for ex-parte evidence in respect of the relief of damages. However, counsel for the plaintiff submitted that owing to certain sensitivity, the plaintiff only wished to press for costs and not for damages, even though, the suit was decreed in Louis Vuitton Malletier v. Futuretimes Technology India Private Limited, 2022 SCC OnLine Del 888, qua permanent injunction.
The decree that had been passed was as follows:
-
a decree for permanent injunction was passed in favour of the plaintiff and restraining the defendants from importing, manufacturing, warehousing, selling and/or offering for sale, advertising, directly or indirectly dealing, in any manner, in any goods, including facemasks, etc. bearing the registered trade marks “LOUIS VUITTON”, “LV” logo, Toile monogram pattern, Damier pattern and/or LV Flower pattern or any similar trade mark amounting to an infringement of registered trade marks, on any platform whatsoever, including its website www.clubfactory.com, mobile apps, social media platforms, etc;
-
doing any other act which amounted to passing off of the defendant’s products as those of the plaintiff;
-
using trade marks, patterns, labels, logos or devices, which were identical or deceptively or confusingly similar to the plaintiff’s trade marks “LOUIS VUITTON”, the “LV” logo, the “Toile monogram” pattern, the Damier pattern and/or the LV Flower patterns (the said trade marks) or any similar trade marks so as to misrepresent the quality/ origin of their goods and from taking unfair advantage of the plaintiffs reputation and goodwill in the said trade marks or any similar trade mark thereby causing dilution and tarnishment of the plaintiff’s trade marks.
-
Directed Department of Telecommunications and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to issue instructions to all ISPs to block the website www.clubfactory.com, so that the same was not accessible through VPN or other platforms.
Decision
The Court noted that the bill of costs placed on record showed that the total cost claimed was Rs. 32,29,416 but after considering the facts, the Court awarded Rs. 20,00,000 as costs to the plaintiffs.
[Louis Vuitton Malletier v. Futuretimes Technology India Private Limited, 2022 SCC OnLine Del 3862, decided on 3-11-2022]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the Plaintiff(s): Advocate Pravin Anand;
Advocate Dhruv Anand;
Advocate Nimrat Singh;
Advocate Udita Patro.