Delhi Court rules in favour of Carnatic Café, bars Bengaluru firm from using ‘Carnatic’ trademark

A Delhi court has ruled in favour of the city-based restaurant chain Carnatic Café, permanently restraining Bengaluru firm Lemonpepper Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. and its directors from using the word “Carnatic” for their restaurant business. The Saket District Court held that the use of the mark infringed the registered trademark owned by restaurateur Pavan Jambagi, who operates Carnatic Café in Delhi.

The order, delivered on 29 October by District Judge (Commercial) Neelam Singh, made permanent an injunction first issued in 2019. The court directed that the defendants, along with their directors, employees, agents, franchisees, and any representatives acting on their behalf, be barred from manufacturing, selling, marketing, advertising, or providing any restaurant or related services under the mark “Carnatic” or any name deceptively similar to “Carnatic Café”.

The case was initiated in April 2019 when Jambagi filed a suit alleging trademark infringement by Lemonpepper Hospitality. Shortly thereafter, the court had issued an ex-parte ad-interim injunction restraining the defendants from using the name. However, when the defendants failed to submit a written statement within the prescribed period, their defence was struck off on 5 March 2020.

In November 2022, the defendants’ managing director, Sunil Kumar, submitted an affidavit acknowledging compliance with the injunction and undertaking not to use the “Carnatic” name in the future. The court noted that this amounted to an admission, leaving the plaintiff’s claims uncontested.

Judge Singh observed that the plaintiff had clearly demonstrated statutory ownership, prior and continuous use of the mark, and the goodwill attached to it. The court found that the defendants’ use of the identical mark constituted unauthorised infringement. Applying Order VIII Rule 10 of the Civil Procedure Code, the court held that judgment could be rendered based on uncontroverted pleadings and documentary evidence.

As a result, the interim injunction granted in 2019 was made permanent. The court also directed the defendants to transfer the domain name www.carnaticrestaurant.com to the plaintiff within four weeks.

Additionally, the court awarded damages of ₹50,000 and litigation costs of ₹10,000 in favour of Jambagi. The judge noted that such compensation was warranted given the damage to the plaintiff’s goodwill and the need to impose deterrent damages in cases of trademark infringement.