The Delhi High Court has held that pre-litigation mediation is not mandatory in Intellectual Pro case wherein urgent interim relief has been sought.
The single-judge bench of Justice Pratibha M. Singh observed that the requirement for the same under Section 12A of the Commercial Court Act stands satified when one party denies offer of amicable settlement of other party.
'"A perusal of the correspondence, extracted hereinabove, leaves no doubt in the mind of the Court that the Defendants were in no way interested in an amicable resolution of the dispute. Instead, the hand of mediation which was lent by the Plaintiff was met with a tight slap. The Defendant's conduct clearly is not in the spirit of any amicable resolution – let alone mediation. Hence, the requirement of Section 12A of the CCA duly stands satisfied on both counts", the Court stated.
The Court was adjudicating upon an application filed on behalf of the Plaintiff seeking exemption from instituting pre-litigation mediation, in accordance with Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.
The plaintiff had filed a suit seeking a permanent injunction restraining the Defendants from passing off of trademark, infringement of copyright, unfair competition, rendition of accounts, damages, and other reliefs.
Counsel appearing for the Plaintiff submitted that the Defendants are using the identical mark ‘BOLT’ with an identical colour scheme for the business of Electric Vehicle charging points, which is similar to one of the services provided by the Plaintiff. She submitted that the use of the mark ‘BOLT’ by the Defendants is completely violative of the global reputation and goodwill which has been acquired by the Plaintiff, and would constitute passing off. She further submitted that the Plaintiff has around 100 registrations in more than 50 countries. Accordingly, an urgent interim injunction was sought in the matter.
The Court also reiterated that it is the settled legal position that delay by itself does not disentitle a Plaintiff to the grant of urgent interim relief.
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(With input from news agency language)
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