Case Analysis: Whatman International Limited v. P Mehta & Ors.

The Delhi High Court, in a recent trademark matter before it, awarded exemplary compensation to the U.K. based plaintiff, Whatman International Limited in lieu of damage caused to its various intellectual property rights by the defendants since a period stretching over 25 years.

The defendants had continually and persistently infringed trademark, copyright and trade-dress, while passing off their goods under the trademark of Whatman International limited and diluted the market by fraudulently selling duplicate goods, poised to be those of the plaintiff's.

In this case the plaintiff had lodged an FIR against the defendants claiming they have continuously violated its trademark by making and selling illicit copies of the goods sold by the plaintiff and acting in concert to illegally circulate the goods in the market thereby resulting in huge damage to the plaintiff's business.