CHENNAI: In a setback to Geetham chain of restaurants, the Madras High Court has directed it to refrain from using a trademark similar to that of Sangeetha chain of restaurants and to pay the profit earned between June 1, 2022, and November 2, 2023, to the chain for such use.
Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy also imposed a cost of Rs 10 lakh on Geetham, to be paid to Sangeetha towards court fees, lawyer’s fee and expenses.
The order was passed on a suit filed by Sangeetha Caterers and Consultants LLP against Rasnam Foods and others, seeking to restrain them from using a deceptively similar mark. Sangeetha stated that Rasnam was its franchisee in Chennai, but the agreement was terminated in April 2022 due to breach of terms. Thereafter, Rasnam operated restaurants under Geetham in the same locations with a similar colour scheme.
Opposing this, Rasnam submitted that it cannot be held liable for the news publication and that they had given advertisements in prominent newspapers that Geetham was not connected with Sangeetha in any manner.
Recording the submissions, the court observed, “The modified mark of Geetham is not likely to deceive or confuse a consumer of average intelligence. This should also be viewed in the context of the ads placed by Rasnam, clarifying that it has no connection with Sangeetha.”
Therefore, the court directed Geetham to pay the profits it earned before the modification of its trademark to Sangeetha.