The Commercial Court at Rajarhat, North 24 Parganas has restrained TV 19 Network and its associates from using the marks “TV19”, “TV19 Network” and “TV19 Network Bangla” in a trademark infringement suit filed by Associated Broadcasting Company Pvt Ltd (ABCPL), which operates the “TV9” news network.

Judge Ishani Chakravarty Banerjee granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction, observing that the plaintiff had made out a prima facie case of trademark infringement, passing off and copyright infringement.

The Court also allowed the plaintiff to bypass pre-institution mediation under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, holding that the suit involved allegations of continuing infringement requiring urgent interim protection.

Relying on the Supreme Court's judgment in Novenco Building and Industry A/S v. Xero Energy Engineering Solutions Pvt. Ltd., the Court observed that insisting on mediation in cases of ongoing infringement could leave the plaintiff without an effective remedy while the alleged infringer continues to benefit from the violation.

ABCPL submitted that it has been using the “TV9” trademark since 2004 and has acquired substantial goodwill and reputation through extensive television broadcasting and digital media operations.

The plaintiff alleged that TV 19 Network had adopted the marks “TV19”, “TV19 Network” and “TV19 Network Bangla” along with a deceptively similar logo, colour combination and trade dress for identical news and digital media services.

It was argued that such use was likely to create confusion among viewers and make them believe that TV19 was associated with TV9.

After examining the pleadings and documents, the Court observed that the plaintiff had shown prior adoption, statutory registrations and long commercial use of the “TV9” family of marks.

The Court noted that the comparison of the marks, logos, colour combinations and overall presentation indicated a prima facie possibility of deception and confusion.

Referring to the Supreme Court's judgment in Pernod Ricard India Pvt. Ltd. v. Karanveer Singh Chhabra, the Court observed:

“Deceptive similarity does not necessitate exact imitation and what is material is the likelihood of confusion in the mind of the consumer.”

The Court also noted that the defendant had earlier expressed willingness to modify its branding but continued using the disputed marks.

The Court held that allowing continued use of the disputed marks during pendency of the proceedings could result in further dilution of the plaintiff's goodwill and cause injury which may not be adequately compensated through damages.

It observed: “The Plaintiff has, at this stage, made out a prima facie case and that the balance of convenience and likelihood of irreparable injury justify the grant of an ex-parte ad-interim injunction.”

Accordingly, the Court restrained the defendants from using “TV19”, “TV19 Network”, “TV19 Network Bangla” or any deceptively similar mark, logo, artistic work, trade dress or colour combination in relation to news broadcasting and digital media services till September 5, 2026.

The Court clarified that the defendants were free to carry on business under any other mark or branding that was not deceptively similar to the plaintiff's registered trademarks.

Advocates appeared in the matter: Sr. Adv Sayantan Basu, Adv. Abhishek Chakraborty ( Advocate on Record), Adv. Arpayan Mukherjee, Adv. Sohail Ahmed Ansari

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