New Delhi, 29 October 2022: Following the Naturals and NIC Natural trademark infringement debacle, the renowned chai café chain, “Chaayos” had filed a similar case against a tea startup in Ghaziabad, ‘Chaiops’ which has consented to change its name and logo.
The Sunshine Teahouse Private Limited which operates tea cafes under the “CHAAYOS” mark, is suing MTRM Global Pvt Ltd, which sells tea products through a cafe with the name and style of “CHAIOPS,” in an effort to “permanently restrain” it from using the “CHAIOPS” mark. The case is being heard by a single-judge bench led by Justice Prathiba Singh.
The complainant, Sunshine Teahouse Private Limited, asserted ownership of and use of the trademark “CHAAYOS” in 2012. They claim to be the leading chain of chai cafés operating in various states and providing customised tea in more than 12,000 ways at more than 200 outlets, registered the mark in 2017.
Additionally, the Plaintiff has reached out to its customers in areas without physical stores by offering delivery services through its website, http://www.chaayos.com, as well as through e-marketplaces like http://www.amazon.in, www.flipkart.com, Bigbasket, Instamart, Grofers, etc., the order recorded.
In July 2020, the defendant, MTRM Global Pvt Ltd, adopted the mark “CHAIOPS” in order to sell tea items through a café with the same name and design. The court was informed during the hearing that there are currently more than 37 Chaiops locations.
According to Chaayos, the defendant used the mark “CHAIOPS” to market goods and services that were identical to those provided by the plaintiff, infringing on their registered trademark.
The parties had been sent to mediation by the top court last month, but the efforts were unsuccessful. The parties before the high court looked at further options for resolving the disagreement on the following hearing date, which was September 23. The parties finally came to an agreement on October 10 that the defendant would modify the “CHAIOPS” mark to “ChaiApps”.
The defendant was further granted one month to inform its clients of the new name. They must stop using the name “CHAIOPS” after a month, including on the website, email addresses, and social media accounts like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc.
There was some disagreement regarding the time frame for implementing the trademark change, and the court decided that the defendant should be given “appropriate time to implement the shift.”
The Court further inquired whether the attorneys for both parties would be satisfied if the Defendant made the modification to its current centers, physical boards, stationery, etc. by April 1, 2023, and that the change would become effective for any new outlets that would be introduced either online or in person immediately after they were launched. The order noted that this is acceptable to both parties.
