Documents ought to be necessarily filed along with the plaint in Trademark Infringement matters.

In order for the Court to consider the registration, documentary evidence in the form of either the trademark registration along with the journal extracts or the Legal Proceeding Certificate ought to be placed on record.

In the recent decision by Justice Prathiba M. Singh (Delhi High Court) in AMRISH AGARWAL Vs. M/s VENUS HOME APPLIANCES PVT. LTD., CM (M) 1059/2018 (decided on August 27, 2019), directed that in trademark infringement matters the following documents ought to be necessarily filed along with the plaint:

i. Legal Proceedings certificate (LPC) of the trade mark showing the mark, date of application, date of user claimed, conditions and disclaimers if any, assignments and licences granted, renewals etc.,

ii. If the LPC is not available, at the time of filing of the suit and urgent orders of injunction are being sought, a copy of the trade mark registration certificate, copy of the trade mark journal along with the latest status report from the website of the Trade Mark Registry. This should be accompanied by an averment in the pleadings that LPC is applied for. Specific averment ought to be made that there are no disclaimers imposed on the mark and the mark stands renewed. Any licences and assignments ought to be pleaded;

iii. Usually, at the time of admission/denial, parties ought not to be permitted to deny the factum of registration and other facts accompanying the registration as the same are easily verifiable from public record online;

iv. In the case of (ii), the party ought to file the LPC prior to the commencement of the trial, if any aspect of the trade mark registration is being disputed by the opposite side.