Delhi High Court has granted an interim injunction in favour of liquor brand ‘Magic Moments’ and has restrained the other company from manufacturing or selling alcohol under the name ‘Evening Moment’.
Justice Pratibha M Singh noted that both the words ‘Magic Moments’ and ‘Evening Moment’ are deceptively similar in view of the fact that the essential feature ‘Moment’ is being used in toto by the defendants, which could lead consumers to connect the two products.
“It can be easily perceived that Defendant’s product is another addition to Plaintiff’s product-stable. Moreover, the use of the word ‘EVENING’ is not sufficient to distinguish the two products due to the very nature of the product which is usually consumed in the evening times. The focus would be on the word ‘MOMENT’ which is the dominant part of the impugned mark,” the bench noted.
The High Court bench was hearing a trademark infringement suit filed by Radico Khaitan Ltd, owners of Magic Moments, against Sarao Distillery (OPC) Pvt Ltd which has been selling liquor under the name ‘Evening Moment’.
The previous injunction order was not applicable to whisky.
The counsel appearing for Radico Khaitan Ltd submitted that they are one of the largest manufacturers of Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), and owing to a large amount of sales and various registration for the words ‘Moments’ and ‘Magic Moments’, the mark deserves to be protected even with respect to whisky.
The bench observed that plaintiff had adopted the word mark ‘Magic moments’ in the year 1997 and has launched Gin and Vodka products under the trademark ‘Magic Moments’ in 2005 and 2006. The plaintiff has been using the trademark extensively and continuously in an uninterrupted manner, the bench noted.
Therefore, the bench granted an interim injunction and stated, “The defendants and all others acting for or on their behalf, are restrained from using the mark ‘EVENING MOMENT’ or any other mark consisting of the word ‘MOMENT/MOMENTS’ in respect of any alcoholic beverages manufactured, sold or offered by sale by them.”
The matter will now be heard on July 22.
