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A Ghaziabad-based tea startup has agreed to change its name and mark after leading chai cafe chain ‘CHAAYOS’ moved the Delhi High Court against the former in a trademark infringement suit.
A single judge bench of Justice Prathiba Singh was hearing Sunshine Teahouse Private Limited, the company which runs tea cafes under the ‘CHAAYOS’ mark in a suit “permanently restraining” MTRM Global Pvt Ltd, which sells tea products through a cafe under the name and style of ‘CHAIOPS’.
Sunshine Teahouse Private Limited, the plaintiff, claimed that it owns the trademark ‘CHAAYOS’ and has been using it since 2012. The plaintiff registered the mark in 2017 and claims to be the leading chain of chai cafes operating in various states, offering customised tea in over 12,000 ways in more than 200 outlets.
“Further, where the physical stores are not present, the Plaintiff has reached out to its customers through its website http://www.chaayos.com offering delivery services and e-marketplaces like http://www.amazon.in, www.flipkart.com, Bigbasket, Instamart, Grofers, etc,” the order recorded.
The defendant, MTRM Global Pvt Ltd, was incorporated in 2017 and adopted the mark ‘CHAIOPS’ in July 2020 for selling tea products through a cafe under the same name and style. During the course of the hearing, the court was informed that at present there are over 37 Chaiops outlets.
Chaayos alleged that the defendant adopted the mark ‘CHAIOPS’ for offering products and services identical to that of the plaintiff which is a violation of their registered trademark.
The high court had referred the parties to mediation last month, however, the proceedings failed. On the next date of hearing on September 23, further options to settle the dispute were explored by the parties before the high court. On October 10, it was finally agreed by the parties that the defendant would change the ‘CHAIOPS’ mark to ‘ChaiApps’.
When the matter was heard on October 11, the high court recorded the consent terms based on which the parties settled the dispute finally. “The Plaintiff and the Defendant hereto confirm and declare that they have voluntarily and of their own free will and volition without any force or coercion arrived at this full and final settlement. The Defendant confirms and declares that it will change its mark ‘CHAIOPS’ to ‘ChaiApps’ (New Word Mark),” the order said.
Additionally, the defendant agreed to use the new name and logo for all of its new outlets to be opened with effect from the date of the order. As per the terms, the defendant has been asked to inform its customers about the new name within one month. After one month the defendant shall cease the use of ‘CHAIOPS’ name on all online platforms, including the website, email addresses, social media handles like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc.
There was some dispute on the timeline to give effect to the change in trademark, to which the court was of the view that the defendant should be granted “reasonable time to give effect the changeover”.
“The Court then put to the counsels for both the parties as to whether the parties would be satisfied if the Defendant effects the change to its existing centres, physical boards, stationery etc by 1st April, 2023 and in respect of online platforms and/or any new outlets to be opened, the change would be immediate. This is acceptable to both parties,” the order recorded.
Chaayos also agreed that it will not oppose “the use and/or registration” of the ‘ChaiApps’ mark or any of its variants, before any judicial and/or quasi-judicial authority.
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