- (1.) A Supreme Court order passed in a suit filed elsewhere by the plaintiffs against the first defendant in respect of the packaging for the same product used earlier by the first defendant, is cited as the basis for seeking an interlocutory injunction in the present suit.
(2.) THE first plaintiff as assignee of the trademark "glucon-D" is the proprietor of the mark which is registered in class 30 in respect of glucose for food, flour and preparations made from cereals and the like. The label is also registered in class 30. The second plaintiff is a subsidiary of the first plaintiff and has been permitted by the first plaintiff to use the word and label marks in the country. The second plaintiff manufactures and markets what it claims to be an instant energy drink under the said word and label marks. The plaintiffs claim that such product has been marketed in India for at least four decades. The products come in three variants: in regular, tangy orange and lemony lime flavours. The plaintiffs say that the distinctive packaging in which their product is sold has a striking colour scheme of predominantly green with the photograph of a happy family of father, mother and son depicted on the front of the packet. The essential features of the packaging are the word "glucon-D", the picture of the happy family and the background colour green. The plaintiffs are also the owners of the copyright in the artistic work used on the packaging.
(3.) THE plaintiffs are a part of an international conglomerate having substantial presence in the food business. The first defendant is an Indian house of repute also engaged in the manufacture of food products. The product of the defendants carrying the "glucose-D" mark is similar to the plaintiffs' product sold under the "glucon-D" mark and part of a host of like goods in the market. In the earlier suit, instituted in Gurgaon, the plaintiffs complained of the first defendant attempting to filch their trade by using a green packet depicting a smiling family of father, mother, daughter and son. According to the defendants, such packet was discontinued by the first defendant by end-2002 but was made the subject matter of the Gurgaon suit instituted on February 19, 2003. From january, 2003 the defendants claim to have used a package depicting a happy family of father, mother and son engaged over a football against a green background with a splash of lighter green thrown in as the immediate backdrop.;