S.D. Containers Versus M/s. Mold Tek Packaging Ltd.
Court / Forum : Supreme Court of India
Citation : 2020 SCC OnLine SC 979
Coram : Justice L. Nageswara Rao, Justice Hemant Gupta, Justice Ajay Rastogi
Subject : Section 3 of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, Section 22 of the Design Act, 2000
Date of Decision : 2020-12-01
Brief Facts
- The appeal was filed against the order passed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court which set aside the order passed by the Commercial Court, Indore, wherein the suit under Section 22(4) of the Design Act, 2000 was transferred to the Calcutta High Court.
- The suit was filed by the Plaintiff/ Respondent against the Defendant/ Appellant before the Commercial Court, Indore, seeking cancellation of registered designs on the ground that the said designs were not new or original and thus, cannot be registered in terms of Section 4(a) of the Designs Act, 2000 along with an application under Section 22(4) read with Section 19(2) of the Designs Act, 2000 to transfer the said suit.
- The order passed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court directed that the Commercial Court, Indore is competent to decide the suit in terms of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 and relied upon the decision in Godrej Sara Lee Ltd. v. Reckitt Benckiser Australia Pvt. Ltd., (2010) 2 SCC 535, stating that an application for cancellation of registration of design would lie to the Controller exclusively without the High Court having parallel jurisdiction.
Issues
- Whether the High Courts have the original ordinary civil jurisdiction to entertain an application under Section 22(4) of the Design Act, 2000?
Decision
- The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India upheld the order of the Commercial Court at the District Level and stated that the same is in accordance with the law and stated that the order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court is not sustainable.
- The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India also observed that there is no inconsistency in the provision of the Commercial Court Act, 2015 and Section 22(4) of the Design Act, 2000 as there is no provision in the Commercial Court Act, 2015 that prohibits or permits the transfer of the proceedings under the Design Act, 2000 to the High Courts which do not have ordinary original civil jurisdiction.
Vipul Ganda is a Delhi based Advocate practicing largely at the Delhi High Court. His practice focus is Dispute Resolution and Litigation and his practice areas include Arbitration, Commercial, Civil, Constitutional, Corporate and Criminal Litigation.
