Kalyan Jewellers filed a case against Antony Adams and others before the Madras High Court with respect to infringement of its trademarks ‘Kalyan’ and ‘Kalyan Jewellers’ by way of the domain: kalyanjewellers.com. Initially, Kalyan Jewellers approached the WIPO domain name dispute resolution forum, but the arbitration panel could not decide the matter. Instead, the arbitration panel asked Kalyan Jewellers to approach the appropriate legal forum for a determination on bad faith, which is one of the 3 requirements to decide domain name disputes.
Before the Madras High Court, Kalyan Jewellers submitted that it adopted the trademarks ‘Kalyan’ and ‘Kalyan Jewellers’ in 1993, and has been using the marks extensively since then. It stated that it has 144 stores in different countries and that it has acquired trademark registrations over ‘Kalyan’ and ‘Kalyan Jewellers’ in classes 14, 16, and 35 in several countries. Kalyan Jewellers also argued that its products are endorsed by several celebrities and that it spends huge amounts of money on advertising.
The defendants did not appear in the case, and the Court decided the case ex-parte. Convinced by the submissions of Kalyan Jewellers, the Court restrained the defendants from using the trademarks ‘Kalyan’ and ‘Kalyan Jewellers’. It also asked the defendants to not use the domain name and asked the domain name registrar to transfer the domain kalyanjewellers.com to the plaintiff.
Citation: M/s Kalyan Jewellers India Ltd vs Antony Adams & Ors., Madras High Court, 19th February, 2024, C.S. No.335 of 2020
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