Prathiba M. Singh JUDGMENT
Prathiba M. Singh, J.
CS (COMM) 111/2019 and I.A. No. 3119/2019 (u/O XXXIX Rules 1 & 2 CPC)
1. The present suit is filed by the Plaintiff - Exxon Mobil Corporation against the Defendant - Exoncorp Private Limited seeking permanent injunction restraining infringement of trademark, passing off, delivery up and rendition of accounts.
2. The suit concerns the trademark 'EXXON' and the use of the mark 'EXON' by the Defendant as part of its corporate name and trading style for rendering information technology services. The Plaintiff commenced its business in 1882 and adopted the word 'EXXON' as its trademark since 1967 in the U.S.A. It changed its corporate name from Standard Oil Company of New Jersey to Exxon Corporation in 1972 and ultimately changed its name to Exxon Mobil Corporation after it acquired Mobil Corporation in 1999. The word 'EXXON' is also a prominent part of its trading style. The said mark is used in combination with various other marks. The Plaintiff is in the business of gas exploration, oil production, refining and marketing of petroleum products, chemical products, research and development. It offers various services related to the petroleum, chemicals and oil industry. The mark 'EXXON' is also a registered trademark in over 160 jurisdictions, including in India.
3. The details of the registrations are set out in paragraph 8 of the plaint which shows that the mark has been registered for a large range of products. In India, the mark 'EXXON' has been in use since 1982 and the Plaintiff has also established various subsidiaries i.e. ExxonMobil Lubricants Pvt. Ltd., ExxonMobil Company India Private Limited, ExxonMobil Gas (India) Private Limited, ExxonMobil Services & Technology Private Limited for carrying on its businesses and services in India. The average sales of the Plaintiff for EXXON branded butyl products from 2006-2018 in India are over 73 million U.S. dollars and in the U.S.A., the average sales of EXXON branded fuel - related products and services for 2002-2014 are over 18 billion U.S. dollars. The Plaintiff's R & D centre is located in Bangalore from where it provides business and technical support services for its global operations. The advertising figures of the Plaintiff have also been mentioned in the plaint. The Plaintiff has consistently been amongst the top five Fortune 500 companies in the world since 1967. The current ranking in 2018 of the Plaintiff Company is at serial no. 2. The Plaintiff's business and operations are supported by its website www.exxonmobil.com. It has constantly taken actions to protect the 'EXXON' mark. Various suits have been filed seeking protection against the use of the mark 'EXXON' or 'EXON'.
4. The Plaintiff came across the Defendant - M/s. Exoncorp Technology Solutions, which was operating its website - www.exoncorp.com, sometime in November 2018. The Defendant had its presence not only on the internet through its website, but also on various social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube. Since the exact identity of the Plaintiff was not known, the Plaintiff got an investigation conducted and learnt that the Defendant had various sister concerns, namely, 'Redback', 'Learnage', 'Seo Search', 'Digital Marketing Venture', 'Connect', etc. In view of the use of an identical mark/name, consisting of the expression Exoncorp, which is almost identical to the Plaintiff's mark 'EXXON', a cease and desist notice was issued by the Plaintiff calling upon the Defendant to seize use of the impugned name/mark. Notice dated 8th November, 2018 was issued to the Defendant and on receiving no response from the Defendant, reminder notices were also issued. Despite delivery of the notices, no reply was received from the Defendant. Hence, the Plaintiff filed the present suit. Summons and notices were issued on 28th February, 2019 and the following order was passed on the said date:
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