Now Showing: Satyagraha: Bom HC denies an Injunction to Restrain its Release

I recently blogged about the dispute between Narayani Productions and Prakash Jha Productions over the movie title Satyagraha. Yesterday, the Bombay HC denied Narayani Productions an interim injunction to restrain the defendants from releasing Satyagraha. We have a copy of the order passed by Justice Kathawala, thanks to a SpicyIP reader.

The Plaintiff, Narayani Productions submitted that the Defendants used their power and influence in the industry to manipulate the records of the Association of Motion Pictures & T.V. Programme Producers(AMPTPP), and have deprived the Plaintiff of its legitimate right to use the title Satyagraha.  The  title was registered by the plaintiff with the AMPTPP since 2005. The registration of the title was thereafter renewed by the Plaintiffs on a yearly basis. The Plaintiffs admittedly failed to renew the said registration after 29th January, 2011. In fact, on 16th February, 2012, the Plaintiffs filed an application before the Trade Mark Registry seeking registration of the trademark Satyagraha under class 41, which is still pending. In the meantime on 15th June, 2011, the Defendant filed an Application seeking registration of Satyagraha for its film with another Association viz. Indian Motion Picture Producers’ Association (IMPPA).

Realising the lapse, the Plaintiffs applied for registration of the title with AMPTPP on 25th August,2011, which was subject to approval of the Title Registration Committee. The AMPTPP and IMPPA are two Associations with whom its members are allowed to file applications seeking registration of the title proposed to be used by the members for their proposed Hindi feature films. Over a series of decisions taken by the two associations, the title was finally registered for the Defendants, because the registration of the Plaintiffs lapsed in January 2011, and the Defendants’ application was prior in time after the lapse. 

The Court put the blame squarely on the plaintiffs for losing rights over the title due to their delay in re-applying for the same. It dismissed the allegations of manipulation made against the defendants. Further the Court held that no copyright can be claimed in the title. Since the trademark Satyagraha was not registered till date in favour of the Plaintiffs, the Plaintiffs cannot claim any statutory rights in that regard. The Plaintiffs also cannot claim any common law rights in the admitted absence of any plea of existence of any reputation and goodwill in the mark. The Plaintiffs therefore failed to make out any prima facie case in their favour. The application for injunction to restrain the release of Satyagraha was accordingly dismissed.