2 months ago
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The Madras High Court has held that the Geetham concatenation of restaurants successful Chennai had adopted a commercialized individuality deceptively akin to that of the fashionable Sangeetha concatenation of restaurants betwixt June 1, 2022, and November 2, 2023, with a presumption to person consumers that Sangeetha had metamorphosed into Geetham.
Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy concurred with elder counsel A.K. Sriram that Sangeetha Caterers and Consultants LLP had established the complaint of passing disconnected and is, therefore, entitled to the full profits earned by the owners of Geetham concatenation of restaurants betwixt June 1, 2002, and November 2, 2023.
The justice directed Rasnam Foods, RSM Foods, Prasanam Foods, and GVR Foods Private Limited to supply a existent and due connection of relationship of gross earned by operating restaurants nether the commercialized sanction Geetham betwixt 2022 and 2023 and wage the profits earned during that play to the owners of Sangeetha.
Partly decreeing a civilian suit filed by Sangeetha LLP successful 2023, the justice besides directed the defendants to wage costs of ₹10 lakh to the plaintiff towards tribunal fees, lawyer’s fee, and different expenses. He further granted a imperishable injunction restraining them from utilizing the commercialized identities utilized betwixt 2022 and 2023.
Justice Ramamoorthy, however, refused to restrain the Geetham concatenation of restaurants from continuing to usage the commercialized individuality that they had been utilizing since November 2, 2023, aft changing the colour strategy and font connected the ground of an undertaking fixed earlier a Division Bench of the High Court successful interim alleviation proceedings.
Recalling the history, the justice said, the travel of Sangeetha had begun successful 1985. It became a concern steadfast successful 2001 and a got converted into a constricted liability concern successful 2015. It had 29 restaurants successful and astir Chennai and 21 much successful countries specified arsenic the United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.
Though the connection ‘Sangeetha’, connected a standalone basis, had not been registered arsenic a trademark, the sanction with a representation of a veena crossed it and the names specified arsenic SVR SANGEETHA, SANGEETHA VEG Restaurant, Sangeetha VEG EXPRESS AND APOORVA SANGEETHA had been registered.
In 2011, N. Murali of Rasnam Foods had approached P. Suresh, the spouse of Sangeetha LLP, with a petition to assistance a franchise. Accordingly, respective franchise agreements were executed for starting restaurants astatine aggregate locations successful and astir Chennai, and Mr. Suresh, too, became a shareholder successful the suspect firm.
However, successful 2022, a discord arose betwixt the franchisor and the franchisee and hence, it was decided to terminate each the franchise agreements with effect from May 31, 2022. From the precise adjacent day, the defendants began moving restaurants successful the sanction of Geetham from the aforesaid locations.
Hence, Sangeetha LLP filed the suit and obtained an interim injunction from Justice P.T. Asha connected September 22, 2023. However, aft taking the bid connected appeal, the defendants changed the colour strategy of their logo and besides the font, and issued paper advertisements successful November 2023 distancing themselves from Sangeetha.
Therefore, Justice Ramamoorthy held that the owners of Geetham were liable to wage to Sangeetha the profits earned betwixt June 1, 2022, and November 2, 2023. He besides recorded the connection of Mr. Murali that the yearly turnover successful 2021 was astir ₹110 crore and the approximate nett was betwixt ₹4 crore to ₹4.5 crore.
