The plaintiffs, part of the globally recognized Verizon Group of Companies, filed a suit seeking permanent injunction and ancillary reliefs against the defendant, Verizon Computers, for infringement and passing off of the plaintiffs' well-known trademark "VERIZON." The plaintiffs adopted and began using the trademark "VERIZON" in the year 2000, deriving from the Latin word "Veritas" (truth) and "Horizon." With trademark registrations in over 200 countries including India, the plaintiffs have been serving major global businesses and government agencies, with an annual revenue of approximately USD 134 billion in 2024.
The plaintiffs hold multiple registrations for the “VERIZON” mark across a wide range of classes including 9, 16, 35, 36, 37, 38, 41, 42, and others, with the earliest Indian registration dating back to March 6, 2000. The mark has already been recognized as a well-known trademark under Section 2(1)(zg) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 by the Delhi High Court in a prior decision dated July 11, 2023 in Verizon Trademark Services LLC v. Vikash Kumar.
The plaintiffs discovered in June 2025 that the defendant, operating under the trade name “Verizon Computers,” was using the mark “VERIZON” in its business related to IT hardware and related services, having registered the name with the GST Department in 2020. The defendant had listings on platforms like Just Dial and IndiaMart, using a device mark that entirely subsumed the plaintiff’s mark “VERIZON.” The plaintiffs submitted that the marks were phonetically, visually, and structurally identical, and that the services and consumer base were also the same.
The court found this to be a classic case of "triple identity," where the trademark, goods and services, and trade channels were all identical. The court held that the plaintiff’s trademark was indistinguishably similar to that used by the defendant, and the adoption of the mark by the defendant appeared dishonest and likely to cause confusion and deception in the minds of the public.
Finding a prima facie case in favour of the plaintiffs, the court granted an ad-interim ex parte injunction restraining the defendant and all persons acting on its behalf from using the mark “VERIZON COMPUTERS” or any other mark deceptively similar to “VERIZON.” The defendant was also restrained from manufacturing, selling, distributing, importing, or exporting any products under the impugned mark. The matter was listed for further hearing on October 16, 2025.
