Recently, the Delhi High Court granted an ad-interim injunction restraining Ultra Plus Cement Pvt. Ltd. and others (“Defendants”) from using the mark ULTRA PLUS in a deceptively similar packaging as that of Ultra Tech Cement Ltd. (“Plaintiff”).
The Plaintiff submitted that it is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of cement and concrete, and claimed that it adopted the mark ULTRA TECH in 2003. The mark ULTRA TECH also features in the list of well-known trademarks maintained by the Registrar of Trade Marks. As per the Plaintiff, it came to know of the Defendant’s adoption of the mark ULTRA PLUS as a trademark and corporate name in 2020, and thereafter came across the Defendants’ trade mark application and registration and filed an opposition and rectification, respectively. It was also submitted that the rival packaging is highly similar.
The Defendants, on the other hand, contended that their mark ULTRA PLUS was registered in 2009, and that no one can claim exclusivity in the word ULTRA inasmuch it is laudatory and descriptive in nature and placed reliance on an order of the Bombay High Court holding that the word ULTRA is laudatory. The Defendants’ also disputed that since they do not have any business operations in Delhi, the court does not have the territorial jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
The court observed that, prima facie, the Plaintiff has sufficiently established its goodwill and reputation in the mark ULTRA. The court took into account the well-known status of the Plaintiff’s mark and differentiated the dicta of Bombay High Court on the ground that in the said case, the use of the rival marks was dissimilar. The court also refused to entertain Defendants’ assertions as to the lack of territorial jurisdiction at this stage.
Ultra Tech Cement Ltd. & Anr. v. Ultra Plus Cement Pvt. Ltd. & Ors., Delhi High Court, CS(COMM) 755/2022, Order dt. November 4, 2022.