Sana Herbals Private Limited Vs Mohsin Dehlvi-DB

**Suitable Titles for the Article:**  

1. Even Sporadic Prior Use Defeats Passing Off Claim: Delhi High Court Clarifies Section 34 Defense  

2. Prior Adoption, Not Continuous Use, Wins Trademark Battle – Landmark Ruling on Honest Prior Rights  

3. Section 34 Triumphs: Delhi HC Holds Limited Early Use Enough to Protect Registered Mark Owner  

**Suitable Tags:**  

#Section34Defense #PriorUseTrademark #PassingOff #DelhiHighCourt #SporadicUse #TrademarkPriorRights #IPLaw #IndianTrademarkAct #HonestConcurrentUse #NOKUFCase  

### Introduction  

The Delhi High Court has delivered a clear and important message on how trademark rights work in India. In a dispute between two companies selling cough syrup under very similar names, the court ruled that the person who starts using a mark first holds a strong legal shield. This decision rests firmly on Section 34 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, which protects anyone who adopted a mark honestly and used it before others came along. The ruling reminds everyone that trademark law rewards the first mover in the market, not the one who registers later or builds bigger sales. It brings fairness to cases where parties fight over marks that have roots in genuine early adoption, especially in everyday products like medicines.

### Factual Background  

One company, Sana Herbals, made cough syrup and sold it under the name NOKUF SYRUP. It believed it had received full rights to the shorter mark NOKUF through an old agreement with the other side and had been selling the product for many years, creating a strong name for itself in the market. The other side, led by Mohsin Dehlvi and his company Dehlvi Remedies, said they had chosen the name NOKUF much earlier and had been selling products under it since the mid-1990s. They pointed to their registration of the mark and said any use by Sana Herbals happened only because they had allowed it for a short time under a manufacturing deal. Later, when Dehlvi Remedies wanted to sell the syrup again under their old mark, Sana Herbals objected, fearing customers would get confused and think the product came from them. Both sides claimed the mark belonged to them, but the roots of the dispute went back to who started first and what happened in the years that followed.

### Procedural Background  

Sana Herbals approached the commercial court with a suit asking to stop Dehlvi Remedies from using the NOKUF name at all. They filed an urgent application for an order to prevent any launch until the full case could be heard, worried that even a small entry into the market would harm their reputation. The commercial court listened to both sides carefully and refused the urgent order. It found that Sana Herbals had not shown enough reason to stop the other party at this early stage. Feeling this was wrong, Sana Herbals filed an appeal before the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court. The bench heard detailed arguments from senior lawyers on both sides over several hearings and then gave its final view on the matter.

### Reasoning and Decision of Court  

The Division Bench first made one thing very clear: when a party already holds a valid registration for a mark, no claim of infringement can be made against them. The real fight here was about passing off, where Sana Herbals said customers would be misled. The court looked closely at the timeline of events. It found that Dehlvi Remedies had picked the name NOKUF and started using it well before Sana Herbals even existed as a company. Even though the use may not have been heavy every single year, especially during tough times like a factory fire and company troubles, it was real and honest from the beginning. The court explained that Section 34 of the Trade Marks Act protects exactly this kind of early adopter. It does not demand perfect, unbroken use – even sporadic or occasional use from the start is enough to create a defense. The old agreement that Sana Herbals relied on to claim full ownership was disputed and had never been properly completed under the law that applied at the time. The court also noted that Sana Herbals could not prove it had built its own reputation before Dehlvi Remedies had already started. In the end, the bench saw no strong reason to stop Dehlvi Remedies from using their mark. Allowing the order would have unfairly wiped out their early rights. The appeal was dismissed, and no restriction was placed on Dehlvi Remedies.

### Point of Law Settled in the Case  

This judgment settles a very practical point in trademark law. Even sporadic prior use of a mark is enough to claim full protection under Section 34 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. A party who honestly adopts and uses a name first can defend itself against a passing off suit by a later user, no matter how much reputation the later user builds later. The court made it plain that the law does not require continuous or massive sales from day one – genuine early use, even if limited at times, creates rights that later claimants cannot take away. This ruling protects honest traders who start small and ensures that passing off claims cannot be used to erase prior honest adoption. It brings clarity for businesses in traditional sectors where use may grow slowly over the years.

**Case Detail**  

**Title:** Sana Herbals Private Limited Vs Mohsin Dehlvi and another 

**Date of Order:** 5 January 2026  

**Case Number:** FAO (COMM) 77/2025

**Neutral Citation:** 2026:DHC:7-DB  

**Name of Court:** High Court of Delhi  

**Name of Hon'ble Judges:** Hon’ble Mr. Justice C. Hari Shankar and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Om Prakash Shukla (Judgment delivered by Hon’ble Mr. Justice C. Hari Shankar)  

**Disclaimer:** Readers are advised not to treat this as substitute for legal advise as it may contain errors in perception, interpretation, and presentation]  

**Written By:** Advocate Ajay Amitabh Suman, IP Adjutor [Patent and Trademark Attorney], High Court of Delhi  

**Headnote of Article:**  

Delhi High Court holds that even sporadic prior use of a trademark is sufficient to invoke the complete defense under Section 34 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, defeating a passing off claim by a later user and registrant in the NOKUF cough syrup dispute.