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I.S.D.S. Private Limited v. M/s Khemka Food Products Pvt. Ltd.

Civil Appeal (Referral Order) · Neutral citation not assigned (C.A. No. 13132/2026)Decided 21 Sept 2026
Civil Appeal No. 13132 of 2026 (arising out of SLP(C) No. 6793 of 2026)
Justice J.B. Pardiwala · Justice K. Vinod Chandran

Background

This is a referral order, not a final judgment. The appeal asks whether Section 134 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, which bars filing a trade mark infringement suit in any court below a District Court, is overridden by state notifications under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 that make Civil Judges (Senior Division) into Commercial Courts.

Decision Breakdown

This is a referral order, not a final judgment. The Court found a conflict between two of its earlier decisions, Kandla Export Corporation v. OCI Corporation and Jaycee Housing v. Registrar, Orissa High Court, on this question. It referred the matter to a larger bench and stayed the underlying commercial suit until the reference is decided.

Lesson Learnt

There is no final ruling yet. Which court can hear a trade mark infringement suit in this situation is now pending before a larger bench.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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