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The Delhi High Court on Friday temporarily restrained a real estate construction company, Vistara Buildtech, from using the ‘Vistara’ mark of Vistara Airlines [Tata SIA Airlines Ltd. vs Vistara Buildtech LLP].
Justice C Hari Shankar noted that the word ‘Vistara’ coined by the airline had no meaning or etymological significance, and that the defendants came into existence in 2022 and were yet to begin operations.
“VISTARA is a coined word, which has no known meaning or etymological significance. The plaintiff has been using the mark VISTARA since at least 2015, and the plaint asserts that the defendants as a partnership firm came into existence in 2022 and are yet to commence building operations under the impugned marks,” the Court said.
Hence, the Court held that the airline had the advantage of priority of use over the construction company.
The airline was aggrieved by the use of the mark by the defendants in connection with commercial properties being developed by them.
They issued a cease and desist notice to the defendants on January 2, 2023. This was followed by a reminder on January 19, 2023. However, there was no response to either of the notices.
Aggrieved, they moved the High Court, seeking an injunction against the defendants using the impugned marks in any manner, as the marks were likely to lead an unsuspecting consumer to believe that defendants’ activities have some association with the airline.
The Court held that a prima facie case was made out by the airline. It, therefore, restrained the defendants from using the mark ‘Vistara’ in connection with their goods and services till the next hearing date.
The airline was represented by advocates Kruttika Vijay, Aditya Gupta, Mukul Kochhar, Shashank Jain, Chirag Gupta and Sharad Sharma.
