Only Prima Facie Satisfaction Required U/s 124(1)(ii) Of Trademarks Act, Court Not Required To Access Sufficiency Of Evidence: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court bench of Justice Vinit Kumar Mathur held that the court is only required to prima facie under Section 124 of the Trademarks Act, 1999 to satisfy itself with respect to the pleadings taken in the written statement to the effect that the trademark of the plaintiff is invalid. Section 124 states: "If no such proceedings are pending and the court is satisfied that the plea regarding the invalidity of the registration of the plaintiff's or defendant's trademark is prima facie tenable, raise an issue regarding the same and adjourn the case for a period of three months from the date of the framing of the issue in order to enable the party concerned to apply to the High Court for rectification of the register." This provision mandates that the trial court, upon receiving an application under Section 124, must assess whether the argument regarding the invalidity of the trademark registration is prima facie tenable before proceeding to adjourn the case to allow for rectification proceedings. The High Court emphasized that the statutory obligation under Section 124 requires the trial court to evaluate the pleadings for a prima facie indication of the trademark's invalidity, rather than to fully adjudicate the merits of the rectification application.