Full Judgment Text
Neutral Citation Number : 2023/DHC/000611
$~16(Original)
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CS(COMM) 671/2022 & I.A. 15836/2022, I.A. 1660/2023
LIVE LAW MEDIA PVT LTD ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Madhav Aggarwal, Adv.
for Ms. Vrinda Bhandari, Adv.
versus
M/S TIYA LAW LIBRARY & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Sharma,
Defendant 2 (in person)
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE C. HARI SHANKAR
J U D G M E N T (ORAL)
% 27.01.2023
I.A. 1660/2023
1. The dispute between the parties stands amicably resolved. The
terms of settlement stand set out in IA 1660/2023, which has been
filed under Order XXIII Rule 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
(CPC), for decreeing the suit in terms of the settlement.
2. The terms of settlement read thus:
“3. That during the pendency of the above suit, the Plaintiff and
Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 have arrived at an amicable resolution of
the disputes as per the following terms & conditions:
(i) That Defendant Nos. 1 & 2 acknowledge that the
Plaintiff runs an online legal news portal, www.livelaw.in/
/
which covers significant legal
developments in courts and tribunals in India; international
legal developments; legal events; publicizes legal job
opportunities; broadcasts real-time updates of court
proceedings (both on Twitter and via its Websites/App);
analyses landmark judgments, significant legal provisions,
Signature Not Verified
CS(COMM) 671/2022 Page 1 of 7
Digitally Signed
By:KAMLA RAWAT
Signing Date:30.01.2023
13:49:33
Neutral Citation Number : 2023/DHC/000611
contemporary issues, and legal concepts; and publishes
columns and Op-eds.
(ii) That Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 acknowledge that the
Plaintiff is the prior adopter and prior user of the
since
the year 2013, in respect of a legal services, and enjoys all
vested and exclusive rights in the trademark „LIVE
mark/brand name/logo/device „LIVE LAW‟/
.
(iii) That Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 acknowledge and
recognise the Plaintiff to be the owner of the registered
LAW/
mark/brand name/logo/device “ LIVELAW /
” , in
respect of a legal services, and enjoys all vested and
exclusive rights in the trademark “ LIVELAW /
”
and that their use of the mark, „LIVELAW.INFO‟ and the
domain name, https.livelaw.info is violative of the
Plaintiff‟s rights in the mark „LIVE LAW‟.
(iv) That Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 admit and agree that
they are permanently restrained from using the mark „LIVE
LAW‟/ Live Law /
” as a trade mark or trade name
or any other mark which is identical or deceptively similar
there to. They are also permanently restrained from using
the same as part of the of the domain name livelaw.info/
and email addresses i.e., „livelaw19@yahoo.com‟,
„livelaw31@rediffmail.com‟, „admin@livelaw.info, and
„livelaw21@rediffmail.com‟, or any other email addresses
or domain names, consisting of the mark/name „LIVE
LAW‟, or any other mark/name deceptively/confusingly
similar to the Plaintiff‟s mark „LIVE LAW‟
(v) That Defendant No. 1 & 2 agree and undertake to
discontinue/delete/remove, within a week‟s time from the
signing of this application, the use of:
a. the domain name, https://livelaw.info/ and
transfer the same in favour of the Plaintiff;
b. email id(s) using the name or handle
„LiveLaw‟ or any other mark/name
deceptively/confusingly similar to the Plaintiff‟s
Signature Not Verified
CS(COMM) 671/2022 Page 2 of 7
Digitally Signed
By:KAMLA RAWAT
Signing Date:30.01.2023
13:49:33
Neutral Citation Number : 2023/DHC/000611
mark „LIVE LAW‟, including but not limited to
livelaw31@rediffmail.com ;
livelaw21@rediffmail.com ; admin@livelaw.info;
livelaw19@yahoo.com
c. all social media accounts using the name or
handle „LiveLaw‟ or any other mark/name
deceptively/confusingly similar to the Plaintiff‟s
mark „LIVE LAW‟, including but not limited to the
Twitter handle „@Livelawinfo‟ (URL:
https://twitter.com/livelawinfo) and the Facebook
account, with the name „Live Law Info‟ (URL:
https://www.facebook.com/Live-Law-Info-
100532252770903).
(vi) That Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 also undertake that they will
not use any trademark, trade name and/or domain name, the use of
which will, in any manner, amount to infringement or passing off
or dilution of the wellknown trademark “ LIVELAW /
” of
the Plaintiff.
(vii) That Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 undertake that they have not
filed any trademark application before the Trade Marks Registry
for any trademark which may be similar to the Plaintiff‟s
trademarks and undertake never to file any applications for the
same.
(viii) That Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 further undertake to destroy
all promotional material like signage, hoardings, trade literature
etc. lying with them relating to the trademark
“ LIVELAW /
and would also remove all references of the
trademark LIVELAW /
from their website(s), emails and
from third party websites and social media platforms which
belongs to the plaintiff within a week's time from the signing of the
present settlement application.
(ix) In consideration of the above undertakings by Defendant
No. 1 and 2, and in consideration of the Plaintiff agreeing to
dispose of the present suit in terms of the present compromise,
Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 agree to pay a sum of Rs.40,000/- (Rupees
Forty Thousand Only) to the Plaintiff in a form of Demand
Draft/cheque/RTGS/cash. The Defendant No. 1 and 2 shall hand
over the said amount to the Plaintiff‟s Counsel at the time of the
recording of the present compromise before this Hon‟ble Court.
Signature Not Verified
CS(COMM) 671/2022 Page 3 of 7
Digitally Signed
By:KAMLA RAWAT
Signing Date:30.01.2023
13:49:33
Neutral Citation Number : 2023/DHC/000611
(x) That Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 undertakes not to commit any
breach of any of the undertakings in this memorandum of
compromise in future in any manner whatsoever. Should the
Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 be found in breach of the present
Agreement at any future date, they agree to pay a sum of Rs.
20,00,000/- (Rupees Twenty Lakhs only).
(xi) That the Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 have no objection if the
present suit may be decreed against them in terms of para (a). (b),
(c), (d), (e), and (h) of the prayer.”
3. Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Sharma, Defendant 2 and the owner of
Defendant 1, is present in person. He has brought with him a demand
draft of ₹ 40,000/- (Rupees Forty Thousand Only) to be handed over
to the plaintiff, in terms of clause (ix) of the aforesaid terms of
settlement.
4. The demand draft has been handed over to Mr. Madhav
Aggarwal, learned Counsel for the plaintiff, in court.
5. The prayer clause in the suit reads thus:
“Therefore, the Plaintiff prays for the following reliefs to be
granted by this Hon‟ble Court:
a. An order for permanent injunction restraining
Defendant Nos. 1 and 2, their owners/ partners, proprietors,
promoters, officers, servants, employees, agents and all
others in capacity as principal or agent acting for and on its
behalf, or anyone claiming through, by, or under it, from, in
any manner web-hosting/publishing/distribution, website
development, domain registration, email account operation,
content management, search engine optimisation, customer
relationship management, social networking, and any other
services, in addition to selling, advertising (including
sponsored Ads/ AdWords etc), directly or indirectly dealing
in products or services consisting of the names/marks „Live
Law‟, „Livelaw.info‟; any other mark consisting of the
words „Live Law‟ or „Livelaw‟; or, any other names/marks
that are identical or deceptively similar to the Plaintiffs‟
registered trademark “
and its variants thereof,
Signature Not Verified
CS(COMM) 671/2022 Page 4 of 7
Digitally Signed
By:KAMLA RAWAT
Signing Date:30.01.2023
13:49:33
Neutral Citation Number : 2023/DHC/000611
including on its website, social media, and content sharing
platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube,
email, or in any other mode or medium which amounts to
infringement of the Plaintiff‟s statutory and common law
rights in its trademark;
b. An order for permanent injunction restraining
Defendant No. 1 and 2, their owners/ partners, proprietors,
promoters, officers, servants, employees, agents and all
others in capacity as principal or agent acting for and on its
behalf, or anyone claiming through, by, or under it, from
web-hosting/publishing/distribution, website development,
domain registration, email account operation, content
management, search engine optimisation, customer
relationship management, social networking, and any other
services, in addition to selling, advertising (including
sponsored Ads/ AdWords etc), directly or indirectly dealing
in products or services consisting of the names/marks „Live
Law‟, „Livelaw.info‟ or any other names/marks that are
identical or deceptively similar to the Plaintiffs‟
and its variants thereof, including on its website, social
media, and content sharing platforms such as Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, email, or in any other mode
or medium which amounts to passing off their services as
those of the Plaintiff or doing business in a manner as may
suggest a connection or association with the Plaintiff;
c. An order of permanent injunction restraining
Defendant Nos. 1 and 2, their owners/ partners, proprietors,
promoters, officers, servants, employees, agents and all
others in capacity as principal or agent acting for and on its
behalf, or anyone claiming through, by, or under it, from
engaging in any activity amounting to dilution of the
Plaintiff‟s “
” registered trademark “ and its variants
thereof in any manner whatsoever;
d. A decree of mandatory injunction directing
Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 to deactivate/ take down the
impugned website livelaw.info; the domain name; and
all/any of its contents and the impugned email id(s)
livelaw31@rediffmail.com, admin@livelaw.info, and
livelaw19@yahoo.com depicting the impugned mark or any
other mark or trade mark deceptively similar to the
Plaintiff‟s registered trademark “LIVE LAW” inter alia, in
any manner whatsoever, in relation to any services,
including its social media platforms, which amounts to
Signature Not Verified
CS(COMM) 671/2022 Page 5 of 7
Digitally Signed
By:KAMLA RAWAT
Signing Date:30.01.2023
13:49:33
Neutral Citation Number : 2023/DHC/000611
infringement/passing off/dilution of the Plaintiff‟s
trademark;
e. An order for a transfer, in favour of the Plaintiff, of
the impugned domain name “www.livelaw.info” and/or any
other domain name owned by Defendant No. 1 and/or
Defendant No. 2 comprising the Plaintiff‟s trademark
“LIVE LAW” or any other mark being deceptively similar
thereto;
f. An order for delivery up for destruction upon oath
of all infringing products, product packaging, advertising
material, stationery, wrappers, stickers, product literature,
banners, hoardings, containers, cartons, boxes, blocks, dies
and any other material bearing the Plaintiff‟s trademarks for
the purposes of erasure/destruction;
g. An order for a rendition of accounts of profits
directly or indirectly earned by Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 on
account of the use of the trademark “LIVE LAW”, and a
decree for the amount so found due to be passed in favour
of the Plaintiff;
h. An order directing Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 to
disclose to the Plaintiff any application filed/ pending for
registration of the Impugned Mark or any other mark
deceptively similar to the Plaintiff‟s Registered Trademark
filed by Defendant No. 1 and/or Defendant No. 2;
i. An order directing Defendant Nos. 3-10, their
directors, partners, proprietors, officers, affiliates, servants,
employees, and all others in capacity of principal or agent
acting for and on their behalf, or anyone claiming through,
by or under it, to block access to the Defendant No. 1‟s
website identified by the Plaintiff in the instant suit (and
such other mirror/redirect/alphanumeric websites
discovered to provide additional means of accessing
Defendant No.1‟s website, and other domains/domain
owners/website operators/entities which are discovered to
have been engaging in infringing upon the Plaintiff‟s
exclusive rights); and
j. Declaration that the Plaintiff's trademark "Live
Law" has acquired the status of a well known mark
k. An order for costs in the present proceedings
Pass any further order(s) as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit
and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case and in
the interests of justice.”
Signature Not Verified
CS(COMM) 671/2022 Page 6 of 7
Digitally Signed
By:KAMLA RAWAT
Signing Date:30.01.2023
13:49:33
Neutral Citation Number : 2023/DHC/000611
6. Mr. Madhav Aggarwal, on behalf of his client and Mr. Sanjeev
Kumar Sharma, Defendant 2 who is present in court, agree to abide by
the terms and conditions which shall, therefore, remain binding on
them.
7. In accordance with para 3 (xi) of the terms of settlement, the
suit stands decreed in terms of prayers (a). (b), (c), (d), (e), and (h) in
the suit.
8. The Registry is directed to draw-up a decree sheet accordingly.
C. HARI SHANKAR, J.
JANUARY 27, 2023
dsn
Signature Not Verified
CS(COMM) 671/2022 Page 7 of 7
Digitally Signed
By:KAMLA RAWAT
Signing Date:30.01.2023
13:49:33