Law Settled in the Case:
The case of Promoshirt SM SA Vs. Armasuisse and Anr. addressed a critical issue regarding the maintainability of Letters Patent Appeals (LPAs) under the Trade Marks Act, 1999, in light of Section 100-A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC).
The court established several key legal principles:First, the court clarified that Section 100-A of the CPC, which bars further appeals from judgments of a Single Judge exercising appellate jurisdiction, applies only to decrees or orders as defined under the CPC, specifically those emanating from a civil court. The court emphasized that the terms "decree" and "order" in Section 100-A, as per Sections 2(2) and 2(14) of the CPC, refer to formal adjudications by a civil court, not decisions by tribunals or authorities like the Registrar of Trade Marks, which do not qualify as civil courts. Consequently, Section 100-A does not bar LPAs against decisions of a Single Judge hearing appeals under Section 91 of the 1999 TM Act, as the Registrar’s decisions are not decrees or orders of a civil court.Second, the court held that the Registrar of Trade Marks does not satisfy the "trappings of a court" test, as enunciated in cases like Nahar Industrial Enterprises Ltd. v. Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corpn. and Paramjeet Singh Patheja v. ICDS Ltd. The Registrar lacks the attributes of a civil court, such as the ability to conduct a full-fledged trial under the CPC or the Evidence Act, and its decisions do not constitute decrees or orders as defined by the CPC. Thus, an appeal from the Registrar’s decision to a Single Judge under Section 91 of the 1999 TM Act does not attract the bar of Section 100-A.Third, the court distinguished the 1999 TM Act from its predecessors, the Trade Marks Act, 1940, and the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958, which had provisions (Sections 76(3) and 109(8), respectively) applying CPC rules to appeals. The absence of such a provision in the 1999 TM Act indicates that appeals under Section 91 are not governed by CPC appeal provisions, preserving the right to an LPA under the Letters Patent unless expressly barred by the statute.Fourth, the court reconciled conflicting precedents, such as Avtar Narain Behal and Mahli Devi, by holding that Section 100-A applies to appeals under special statutes only when the statute explicitly subjects the appeal to CPC provisions, as in Section 299 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925. Where the special statute, like the 1999 TM Act, is silent on further appeals and does not adopt CPC rules, an LPA remains maintainable under the Letters Patent, as supported by National Sewing Thread Co. Ltd. v. James Chadwick & Bros.Finally, the court underscored that the non-obstante clause in Section 100-A overrides Letters Patent provisions only for appeals involving civil court decrees or orders or where the special statute incorporates CPC appeal provisions. In the absence of such conditions, the Letters Patent remedy remains intact, ensuring an additional layer of judicial scrutiny for trademark disputes.Case DetailsCase Title: Promoshirt SM SA v. Armasuisse and Anr.Date of Order: September 6, 2023Case Number: LPA 136/2023 & LPA 137/2023Neutral Citation: 2023:DHC:6352-DBName of Court: High Court of Delhi at New DelhiName of Judges: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Yashwant Varma and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Dharmesh Sharma
