Super Dust Tea Case Study

FACTS OF THE CASE
The plaintiff carries on business as marketers and exporters of tea and other consumer goods on a large scale with an annual sales turnover of about Rs. 400 crores and has gained very valuable reputation and goodwill especially in the tea trade, one of the popular brands of tea selling with the banner "Super Dust Tea" since 1968 in various sizes and packets. The marketing of tea under the banner "Super Dust Tea" was/is being done under four registered trademarks and two other trademarks for which applications have been filed for registration. The essential features of the series of trademarks are the unique colour combination of green background, the words "Super Dust Tea" in white and the floral get-up in different shades of red and pink in all the packages with slight variation in the get-up designed to suit the sizes of the packet carrying different quantities of tea.

After notice, the defendant appeared with its return to all the applications annexed along with the suit filed by the plaintiff.
CONTENTIONS
The Plaintiff claimed to have spent considerable amounts extending to crores of rupees by way of publicity expenses for popularizing their Trademarks under which ‘Super Dust Tea', is sold. The plaintiffs have carried out the publicity all over India through Television, Cinema slides, hand bills, newspapers and magazine advertisements. The plaintiffs have also carried out direct publicity in the rural areas through propaganda vans and local cinema projections, at fairs and festivals. Last year they spent about Rs. 1.6 crores on publicity and advertisement.
The plaintiff also claimed that they are the publisher of the work, and in the absence of any identity of the authors disclosed or established, the definition in Section 54(b) of the Copyright Act, is attracted upon which the above rule of presumption should be