Delhi High Court Imposes ₹20 Lakh Costs On Instant Bollywood Founder In Trademark Dispute

The Delhi High Court has imposed costs of Rs 20 lakh on Instant Bollywood founder Mandeep Singh for suppressing material facts about his knowledge of four trademark registrations first secured in Shabir Momin's name and subsequently assigned to Times Internet, while ordering status quo on the assignment. The court held that Singh failed to disclose key documents showing that he was aware as early as 2022 that the Instant Bollywood trademarks stood exclusively in Momin's name. These included the June 2019 agreement governing the brand and legal notices exchanged with Times Internet Inc., particularly a notice dated November 24, 2025. Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora passed the order on December 11, 2025, while hearing a batch of rectification petitions filed by Singh seeking cancellation of four registrations of the Instant Bollywood (device) mark. While holding that the non-disclosure amounted to suppression of material facts, the court declined to dismiss Singh's interim applications. It held that the record prima facie acknowledged his 50% intellectual property right in the trademark. It imposed costs of Rs 5 lakh in each of the four petitions, aggregating to Rs 20 lakh, payable to the Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee within two weeks. Instant Bollywood is a Bollywood-focused digital entertainment network and news platform that posts celebrity and industry updates. Singh told the Court that he launched the brand in 2012 and entered into an agreement with One Digital Entertainment Pte. Ltd. (ODE) in June 2019 for management and development of the platform. Under the 2019 agreement, intellectual property rights in the Instant Bollywood brand were to be jointly owned in a 50:50 ratio. Singh terminated the agreement in August 2025 and later challenged trademark registrations obtained in the name of ODE's managing director, Shabir Momin. During the proceedings, Times Internet Inc. sought impleadment as a party, stating that Momin had assigned the subject trademarks to it under an agreement dated October 24, 2025. The Court held Times Internet to be a proper and necessary party and allowed its impleadment. On interim relief, the court noted that the 2019 agreement expressly acknowledged joint ownership of intellectual property rights in the brand. It observed that this position was also reflected in a legal notice issued by Times Internet to Singh. The court further noted that Singh was not a party to the assignment documents and had not received any consideration. “The Respondent Nos. 1 and 3 would have to explain the legal basis of exclusion of the Petitioner from the registration before the registry as well as the Transaction Documents,” the Court said. To protect Singh's admitted rights, the court directed Shabir Momin and Times Internet to maintain status quo on the assignment and restrained them from creating any third-party interests in the trademarks. The matter will next be listed on May 6, 2026. Case Title: Mandeep Singh v. Shabir Momin & Anr. Case Number: C.O. (COMM.IPD-TM) 275/2025 For Petitioner: Senior Advocate Swathi Sukumar with Advocates Nikhil Chawla, Mansha Mehta, Arshiya Chauhan, Ritik Raghuwanshi and Tejasvini Puri For Respondents: Advocates Samarjit G. Pattnaik, Zeeshan Khan, Kashish Seth, Keshav Yadav and Gaurav Vutts for R-1; CGSC Nidhi Raman with Advocates Om Ram and Arnav Mittal for R-2; Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi with Advocates Mohit Rohatgi, Yuvnesh Sharma, Karan Trehan and Aditi Namekal for R-3.Click Here To Read/Download Order

Delhi High Court Imposes ₹20 Lakh Costs On Instant Bollywood Founder In Trademark Dispute

Ayushi Shukla

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