Calcutta High Court Grants Plea For Injunction By Moondust Paper Ltd In Suit Against Infringement Of 'Captain Gogo' Trademark

The Calcutta High Court has granted an order of injunction to Moondust Paper Private Limited, the owners of the trademark 'Captain Gogo' in a suit for infringement of the trademark by various entities.

In granting the prayers for injunction, Justice Ravi Kishan Kapur held:

"It is evident that the impugned products fall in the same category as of the petitioners and are also being sold through the same trade channels. In selling the impugned products, the respondents are acting in a fraudulent and dishonest manner. There is every attempt made to imitate not only the petitioner's name but also the copyright registration which is being enjoyed by the petitioner. Prima facie, there is every possibility of confusion and disruption among the public."

"In such circumstances, there is a strong case for infringement of trade mark and copyright as well as passing off which has been made out by the petitioner. On a bare examination, the marks of the respondent are visually and phonetically similar to that of the petitioner. There is every likelihood of the public being confused and deceived. While examining such cases, what has to be kept in mind is the purchaser of such goods in India who may have absolutely no or very little knowledge of the English language and to whom different words with minor difference in spellings may sound phonetically similar," he added.

The present case arose out of a suit by the plaintiff complaining of infringement of trademark, copyright and passing off. The petitioner is a company engaged in the manufacture, trade, import and export of smoker's articles like cigarette paper booklet, matchboxes, card board filter tips for cigarette, booklets of rolling paper, crushing tray, cone filler, cone roller, pre-rolled smoking-paper cone, blunt paper, pre-rolled blunt smoking cone, roll of cigarette paper, booklets of flavoured rolling paper, pre-rolled flavoured smoking cone etc.

The petitioner has been carrying on the above business under the trade mark “CAPTAIN GOGO” “GOGO”. It is submitted that the above mark of the petitioner was conceived of and coined by its predecessor-in-interest since 2015. The mark has become synonymous with the products of the petitioner and is exclusively identifiable with the petitioner.

The petitioner is also the owner of the artistic work in the mark “GOGO”. The petitioner relies on different trade mark registrations as well as registration under the Copyright Act, 1957 insofar as the artistic work contained in the label and packaging in the various products is concerned.

It is contended that the petitioner sells its products both offline and online through its website, www.captaingogo.com. The petitioner claims to have made substantial expenditure insofar as its advertisement is concerned. The petitioner also boasts of impressive sales figures. 

The suit was instituted against the respondents for carrying on identical business and selling deceptively similar products as those of the petitioner. 

Inspite of service, the respondents did not appear, and the court made a comparison of both the petitioner's and respondents' products. Accordingly, it granted the plaintiff company's suit for injunction.

Mr. Sayantan Basu, Sr. Adv., Mr. Tanmoy Roy, Adv., Mr. Bhavesh Garodia, Adv., Mr. Abhishek Chakraborty, Adv., Ms. A. Roy, Adv…for the plaintiff/petitioner.

Case: MOONDUST PAPER PVT LTD. Vs VINAY SHAW AND OTHERS 

Case No: IP-COM/44/2024

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