In a rice trademark dispute, R.H. Agro Overseas, owner of the registered mark NAFIS for selling rice, sued Ritik Kumar for allegedly copying its brand and packaging with a similar mark NAFEEZA. The plaintiff claimed the marks and bag designs were deceptively similar, causing confusion among buyers. After the defendant’s products entered the market in December 2025, the plaintiff filed a commercial suit in January 2026 seeking an urgent injunction and appointment of local commissioners. On 2 February 2026 the trial court, without issuing notice to the defendant or hearing his side, granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction stopping use of NAFEEZA and the similar packaging, while also appointing commissioners and exempting the plaintiff from pre-suit mediation.
The defendant appealed to the Delhi High Court arguing that passing such a final-looking injunction without any opportunity to be heard violated basic principles of fairness. The Division Bench agreed that the trial court should not have recorded the injunction application as finally “disposed of” at the ex-parte stage; it should have remained only an ad-interim order pending a proper hearing. The High Court found that the trial court had recorded sufficient reasons for granting temporary relief on the face of the papers (similar marks, identical goods and packaging), so the injunction itself was not set aside. However, to correct the procedural error and uphold natural justice, the court modified the order: the injunction continues as ad-interim only, the defendant must file his reply and written statement within one week, the plaintiff must file its rejoinder within the next week, and the trial court must decide the injunction application on merits within one month after pleadings are complete. The appointments of local commissioners and the exemption from pre-institution mediation were left untouched. All rights and arguments of both sides remain open for the final hearing.
Title: RITIK KUMAR v. R.H. AGRO OVERSEAS, Order date: 07.04.2026, Case Number: FAO (COMM) 79/2026 & CM APPL. 17286/2026, Neutral Citation: not provided, Name of court: High Court of Delhi at New Delhi, Judge: Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora.
Disclaimer: Donot treat this as substitute for legal advise as it may contain subjective errors.
Written By: Advocate Ajay Amitabh Suman, IP Adjutor [Patent and Trademark Attorney], High Court of Delhi
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