LI Network
Published on: 5 August 2023 at 00:20 IST
The Supreme Court declined to intervene in a trademark infringement case involving Blinkit, an e-commerce grocery delivery service, and Blinkhit, a Bangalore-based startup.
The Karnataka High Court had previously granted relief to Blinkit and set aside a temporary injunction favoring Blinkhit.
During the hearing, a Bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti observed that Blinkhit had not reported any turnover according to the case files and records.
Justice Khanna pointedly remarked to Blinkhit’s counsel, “You have zero turnover. I went through the files, you did not even mention your financials. Sorry.”
The dispute arose when Blinkit, a Zomato-owned venture, moved the High Court against a temporary injunction from a trial court, which restrained Blinkit from infringing on Blinkhit’s trademark.
Blinkit contended that the injunction was arbitrary and that the two companies offered entirely different services, making the registration of the trademark for one not applicable to the other.
Justice SR Krishna Kumar of the Karnataka High Court, in his ruling, considered the nature of services provided by both parties and concluded that they were distinct.
He emphasized that merely registering a trademark for a different activity could not be the basis for granting a temporary injunction.
One of the crucial factors the High Court took into account was that Blinkhit had not used its registered trademark from 2016 until the filing of the lawsuit before the trial court.
Blinkhit’s appeal before the Supreme Court sought to overturn the High Court’s decision. However, after a brief hearing, the top court upheld the High Court’s ruling and dismissed the appeal, stating that it was not inclined to interfere with the lower court’s judgment.
Senior Advocates Neeraj Kishan Kaul and Mukul Rohatgi represented Blinkit during the proceedings.