Delhi court restrains UP restaurant from using name 'Karim's Food'

New Delhi, Nov 3 (PTI) A Delhi court has restrained a restaurant in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur from using the name 'Karim's Food', saying that it is deceptively similar to restaurant chain Karim's in the national capital.

District Judge Sanjeev Kumar Malhotra was hearing a trademark suit filed by Karim Hotels of Delhi claiming that the establishment named 'Karim's Food' in Rampur "visually, phonetically and conceptually adopted the name Karim's Food for its restaurant, which was deceptively similar to its reputed marks/brand 'Karim', 'Karim's' and 'Kareems'.

In an order dated October 18, the court said that the adoption of a similar deceptive mark by the defendant, Karim's Food, could have caused loss of goodwill and reputation of the plaintiff, Karim Hotels, among the general public.

It also awarded Rs 2 lakh as punitive damages to the plaintiff.

"A decree of permanent injunction is passed in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendant, thereby restraining the defendant, his agents, representatives, etc., from using the mark 'Karim's Food' or any other mark identical to the plaintiff's registered trademark," the court said. PTI MNR KVK KVK