Jodhpur: The Rajasthan High Court has lifted the stay imposed on the release of Alia Bhatt-starrer Hindi movie ‘Jigra’ by a commercial court for alleged trademark violation.
A bench comprising Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Munnuri Laxman lifted the stay on the release of the movie while hearing a plea moved by Dharma Production, the producer of the film, challenging the stay imposed on the release of the film on October 11 by a Jodhpur commercial court on a trademark violation application moved by one Bhallaram Choudhary claiming that the title ‘Jigra’ was his trademark.
Jodhpur Commercial Court had stayed release of film ‘Jigra’ on October 8
The Jodhpur Commercial Court had stayed the release of the film ‘Jigra’ on October 8 by an order of ad interim injunction against the release of the film while keeping application for temporary injunction pending adjudication on October 14.
Dharma Production moved High Court seeking stay on the operation of the Commercial Court order
Appellant Dharma Production moved the High Court seeking stay on the operation of the Commercial Court order.
The counsels representing the appellant submitted before the High Court that the Dharma Production is not conducting any trade in goods or services so as to amount violation under the Trademarks Act by naming the movie.
The counsels representing Choudhary submitted that the respondent is having registration in the field of education and entertainment and his certificate of trademark has to be protected and that staying the operation of the order of the commercial court and allowing the release of the movie will impact his business.
What did the High Court say?
The High Court noted that the first motion poster of the movie was released on September 8, 2023, the certification from the Central Board of Film Certification has been obtained for Hindi and Telugu on October 3, 2024 and October 9, 2024 respectively and the pre-release of the movie has been done on October 9, 2024.
The High Court said that taking into consideration the three parameters of prima facie case, irreparable loss and balance of convenience, it is convinced that the name of the movie in question would not infringe the trademark rights of the goods and services.
“Moreover, the appellant is not trading in the name of ‘Jigra’, rather it is M/s Dharma Production Private Limited. Thus, the goods and services rendered by Dharma Production Private Limited by naming a movie as ‘Jigra’ cannot be said to be an infringement of trademark laws,” the High Court said.
The High Court, while staying the effect and operation of the commercial court order as an ad interim measure, added, “This court is conscious of the fact that still if any kind of violation is made out, then the appropriate remedy in the shape of damages/monetary compensation can be granted, but for this the appellant cannot be put to a financial loss on count of non-release of the movie in question on 11.10. 2024.”
The matter has been listed for further hearing on October 16.
