Delhi HC grants relief to UltraTech Cement in a trademark infringement case

Court: Justice Navin Chawla of Delhi High Court

Recently, the Delhi High Court granted interim relief to cement market leader UltraTech Cement in its trademark infringement case against UltraPlus. UltraTech was able to prove its reputation and goodwill through its use of Ultra and its variants, according to the HC.

An UltraTech trademark application filed in 2013 claimed that the defendants had adopted a deceptively similar mark 'Ultra Plus' and sought to register it.

An order from the Bombay High Court dated 2016 ruled that no person could claim exclusive rights to the mark 'Ultra'. The Court rejected the defendant's argument. In distinguishing this case from the 2016 one, the Court noted: The said order, besides stating that no one can claim exclusive rights to the mark "Ultra", also observed that the defendant's use of the mark was not deceptively similar to the plaintiffs.

Additionally, the Court said that the goods of the two cement companies were the same, and any resemblance in the marks could mislead an unwary consumer. It thus restricted the defendants from using the Ultra Plus mark till further orders.

The matter will next be considered on December 20.