“Hari Puttar” Succeeds: Warner’ Injunction Plea In Vain

In the much talked about suit Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. Harinder Kohli and Ors. [IA No.9600/2008 in CS(OS) 1607/2008] Warner Bros. moved to Delhi High Court to seek an interim injunction on the use of the title "HARI PUTTAR". The suit for permanent injunction prays to restrain infringement of trademarks, passing off, dilution, damages and rendition of accounts of profits earned by Kohli and co-parties vide the use of the impugned trademark/title while also for an order of transfer of the domain name www.hariputtarthefilm.com to Warner.

Warner claims to have secured trademark registration in India for the word mark "HARRY POTTER" infringing the aforesaid registered trademarks of the plaintiffs by the act of naming their film "HARI PUTTAR", which is visually and phonetically similar to their mark. Warner also asserts that their mark is a well known character and is the protagonist of a series of seven novels written by British author Ms. J.K. Rowling.