The Trade Marks Act,1999
134. Suit for infringement, etc., to be instituted before District Court.—
(1) No suit—
(a) for the infringement of a registered trade mark; or
(b) relating to any right in a registered trade mark; or
(c) for passing off arising out of the use by the defendant of any trade mark which is identical with or deceptively similar to the plaintiff’s trade mark, whether registered or unregistered, shall be instituted in any court inferior to a District Court having jurisdiction to try the suit.
(2) For the purpose of clauses (a) and (b) of sub-section (1), a “District Court having jurisdiction” shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) or any other law for the time being in force, include a District Court within the local limits of whose jurisdiction, at the time of the institution of the suit or other proceeding, the person instituting the suit or proceeding, or, where there are more than one such persons any of them, actually and voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain.
Explanation.—For the purposes of sub-section (2), “person” includes the registered proprietor and the registered user.
Comments
This section stipulates that the forum for institution of infringement proceedings, etc., is the District Court. The term “District Court having jurisdiction” includes a District Court within the local limits of whose jurisdiction, the person, or one of the persons, instituting the suit or other proceedings, actually or voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain.
