2 yr RI for brothers for violation of Trade Marks Act

The court of Judicial Magistrate Ram Pal has sentenced two businessmen brothers Jagjit Singh and Avtar Singh to two years of rigorous imprisonment for cheating and violating the provisions of the Trade Marks Act.

A complaint had been filed by Manjit Singh Kalsi of Narankar Mechanical Works, Phagwara, through his lawyer Gurwinder Arora. Kalsi is the proprietor of Narankar Mechanical Works, Phagwara Gate, Jalandhar, and is engaged in the business of sale and manufacturing of Universal Wood Working Planners (randa machines) under the brand name of Kalsi Randa Machine. He had maintained that his brand name is a registered trademark under the Trade Marks Act, 1999, issued since January 28, 2005. He contended that the wood planner machine manufactured by his company was popular among the carpenters due to its high quality.

He alleged that accused Jagjit Singh and Avtar Singh (having unit at Waryana Industrial Complex) to get popularity had also started manufacturing the same randa machine under the name and style of “Kalsi Machine Tools (Regd)”. He also mentioned in his complaint that the product manufactured by the accused does not match the quality of product manufactured by him due to which the reputation of his brand had been tarnished.

The complainant asked the accused a number of times not to use the similar brand and the word Kalsi, but to no effect.

The accused denied all allegations and pleaded their innocence. They further pleaded that the firm Kalsi Machine Tools was registered by their father Surrender Singh, who passed away in 2011. They contested that the firm was registered in 1993 and prior to the registration of firm Kalsi Machine Tools

However, the court found that the trademark of the complainant “Kalsi Randa Machine”, which was registered with the Registrar of Trade Marks, Delhi, but the trademark of accused had not been registered under the provisions of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. They could only produce a copy of declaration of ownership which was got registered by an advocate at Delhi with the office of Sub Registrar and, therefore, it infringed the provisions of the Trade Mark Act.

The court also found that the accused had dishonestly cheated the complainant. The court found them guilty for the commission of offence under Section 420 of the IPC and Sections 103 and 104 of Trade Marks Act.

The court sentenced the duo with two years of RI and Rs 1,000 fine for being guilty of Section 420 of the IPC. They were also sentenced to two years of RI and Rs 50,000 fine for violating Section 103 of the Trade Marks Act and two years of RI and Rs 50,000 fine for violating Section 104 of the Trade Marks Act. The court ordered that all sentences will run concurrently and the period of detention already undergone be set off against the sentence.