Louis Vuitton Vs Lee Vanz: Sellers Undertake To Pay 1 Lakhs Litigation Cost To French Company In Trademark Infringement Suit Over Sale Of Footwear Using LV Logo

CAUSE TITLE:
Louis Vuitton Malletier Vs Javed Khan & Ors

DATE OF ORDER:
9 September 2022

JUDGE(S):
HON’BLE JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH

PARTIES:
Plaintiff: LOUIS VUITTON MALLETIER
Defendants: JAVED KHAN & ORS.

SUBJECT

This case involved a suit seeking a permanent and mandatory injunction, rendition of accounts for trademark infringement.

BRIEF FACTS

• The plaintiff is a French company having its registered office in Paris, France. It traces back its existence to 1854 and the mark ‘LV’ is well known since then. The plaintiff is engaged in the business of manufacturing distributing and selling high-quality and high-value luggage, handbags, wallets, footwear and fashion accessories for both women and men.
• It is a part of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) group that owns over 75 prestigious brands with a retail network of over 5000 stores across the world.
• In India, the plaintiff’s first registration of the ‘LV’ mark dates to 8th August 1985 bearing registration no. 441451. The latest registration is dated 4th February 2016 bearing registration no. 3177009.
• Defendant no. 1 namely Javed Khan is a wholesale supplier of footwear and menswear and operates under the name ‘Jay Kay Sales’.
• Defendant 2 namely Bilal Khan is listed as an entrepreneur India Mart runs a business along with defendant no. 1 at 2 locations.
• Defendant no. 3 Ashok Kumar, is an unknown person/identity based on the concept of John Doe who was found operating an e-commerce portal until October 2021, where it was offering for sale products such as footwear, wrist watches and other accessories bearingthe logo as counterfeits.
• The present suit was filed by the plaintiffs to seek relief of permanent and mandatory injunction, rendition of accounts/damages against the defendants for trademark infringement who are selling footwear bearing the ‘LV’ logo under the name of Lee Vanz in form of buckles on their footwear.
• Vide order dated 09.12.2021, an ex-parte injunction was granted in favour of the plaintiffs.
• The appointed local commissioners visited the premises of D1 and D2 in Agra, Uttar Pradesh and seized 343 pairs of footwear bearing the ‘LV’ logo.

ARGUMENTS

The plaintiff argued for the exclusiveness of the LV logo along with the distinct floral pattern.

ANALYSIS

• Defendants Bilal Khan and Javed Khan have agreed to bring an end to this dispute with the plaintiffs and have made a settlement before the court that they are willing to pay Rs. 1,00,000/- to the plaintiffs towards Litigation Cost in installments with an undertaking not to use the ‘LV’ logo or any other marks of the plaintiff.Plaintiff returned no objection and did not press any other relief.
• The defendants agreed to produce seized goods before the Hon’ble court on 15th Sept. 2022 so that ‘LV Buckles’ can be removed.

CONCLUSION

The defendants were ordered to pay an amount of Rs. 1 Lakh in 5 equal installments of Rs. 20,000 towards litigation cost to the plaintiff in accordance with the following terms:-

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