Lekha G
A Civil Court restrained a Bengaluru-based promoter of ShareChat and Moj applications from using the trademark Moj temporarily after a trademark row.
In the suit, Jugaldip Lagdhir claimed that he had got the trademark Moj registered in English and Gujarati languages in 2018 and since then enjoyed exclusive rights to use the mark in the field of music.
Advocates Vishal Thakker and Zahid Shaikh representing Lagdhir further submitted that Lagdhir discovered the use of a similar trademark by Mohalla Tech for its mobile application and argued that the company’s use of a similar trademark would puzzle people and it will have an adverse effect on the goodwill generated by the applicant in the market.
Upon inquiry, it was found that the company had filed two applications in August and October 2020 respectively for the registration of Moj as a trademark
The Court, based on Lagdhir’s claim, urged to stop the company by passing an interim injunction under the provision of Section 135 of the Trademark Act.
Judge Hemang Trivedi observed, “It prima facie appears that defendant (Mohalla Tech) has used deceptively similar and identical trademark to the plaintiff’s product which is likely to cause confusion in the mind of the people…Therefore, considering the prima facie case of the plaintiff, if the defendant is not restrained, it will cause harm, damage and loss to the plaintiff”.
