Supreme Court refers trademark jurisdiction conflict to larger bench

The case concerns whether a Civil Judge (Senior Division) notified as a Commercial Court under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, has the jurisdiction to hear trademark infringement suits, which Section 134 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 restricts to District Courts. The Supreme Court referred the matter to a larger bench to resolve the conflict between these statutes and settle the law uniformly.

Who it concerns: Appellants: I.S.D.S. Private Limited & Anr.; Respondents: M/s Khemka Food Products Pvt. Ltd. & Anr.; Bench: Justices J. B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran.

What the court decided

• The Court identified a conflict between Section 134 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and notifications under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.
• The matter was referred to a Larger Bench to resolve the conflict and settle the law uniformly across states.
• The matter was directed to be placed before the Chief Justice of India for appropriate orders.
• Commercial Suit No.11 of 2023 pending before the CJ (SD) – I, Jamshedpur was stayed.

Also in the document

• The Court noted that in Jharkhand, suits valued under Rs. 3 lakhs must go to the District Court under the Trade Marks Act, while higher-value suits go to the CJ(SD) under the Commercial Courts Act, creating an anomaly.
• The Court observed that the legislative intent of the Trade Marks Act cannot be diluted by High Court notifications.
• The order is marked as Non-Reportable.