Café Madras gets Bombay High Court reprieve in trademark dispute over name

Café Madras, the iconic Matunga eatery that has been around since 1951, got a reprieve from the Bombay high court on Wednesday. The court held that a Jalgaon-based eatery owned by Lime and Chilli Hospitality Services had infringed on the trademark by using the same name and directed the defendants to not use the same.

Justice Gautam Patel, while holding that use of the 'Café Madras' trademark was not bona fide by the Jalgaon restaurant, said the court also found its mark to be deceptively and confusingly similar to that of the Matunga-based eatery. The court held that the use of the registered trademark by the Jalgaon restaurant would cause confusion and amount to deception.

The partners of the Matunga eatery Jagdish Kamath and others had approached the court seeking restraining orders against the Jalgaon-based eatery. They moved the court after the defendants refused to stop using the name of their eatery, even after being served legal notices by the partners Jagdish Kamath and others in June 2012.