Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has temporarily restrained Hamon Cooling Systems from using the 'Hamon' trademark, holding that John Cockerill Hamon SA had made a prima facie case that it owns the brand following a cross-border insolvency process.
Justice Arif S Doctor, in an order dated July 6, held that the court found no merit in defendant No. 1's contention that the plaintiff was disentitled to relief on grounds of acquiescence and delay. "The defendants are, on their own admitted case, derivative users whose authority to use the marks has expired. The balance clearly favours the plaintiff, and even if the injunction is refused, the plaintiff will, in fact, continue to suffer its marks being exploited by a former permitted user who is actively projecting continuity of corporate identity and lineage to which it has no entitlement whatsoever," the court said.
Senior advocate Janak Dwarkadas and counsel Hiren Kamod, appearing for the Belgian company, argued that while John Cockerill Hamon acquired Hamon's worldwide trademarks and goodwill in 2022, including the Indian 'Hamon' registrations, the Indian operating company had been granted only a temporary right to use the brand for the completion of ongoing projects.
According to the plaintiff, that limited right has since expired, yet the Indian company continues to use the brand in its corporate name, website, email address and other branding material.
Appearing for Hamon Cooling Systems, senior counsel Veerendra Tulzapurkar and Sajid Mohamed of Agrud Partners argued that the Belgian company had failed to establish even a prima facie chain of title over the 'Hamon' marks, contending that the documents relied upon by the plaintiff suffered from serious infirmities.
The defendant argued that the transfer agreement did not specifically refer to HCI's Indian trademarks and that HCI's Indian business was never acquired by CMI France.
The dispute traces its origins to 1963, when the 'Hamon' trademark was adopted by Belgian company ENGETRA S.A. for industrial equipment, including cooling systems and heat exchangers. Ownership of the trademark and associated goodwill was transferred in 1999 to Hamon & CIE (International) S.A. (HCI).
Around the same period, HCI acquired a majority stake in India's Thermopack Engineers, which was subsequently renamed Hamon Thermopack and later became a wholly owned subsidiary. The Indian business expanded through a joint venture with the Shriram Group before HCI regained near-complete ownership and renamed the company Hamon Cooling Systems.
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Justice Arif S Doctor, in an order dated July 6, held that the court found no merit in defendant No. 1's contention that the plaintiff was disentitled to relief on grounds of acquiescence and delay. "The defendants are, on their own admitted case, derivative users whose authority to use the marks has expired. The balance clearly favours the plaintiff, and even if the injunction is refused, the plaintiff will, in fact, continue to suffer its marks being exploited by a former permitted user who is actively projecting continuity of corporate identity and lineage to which it has no entitlement whatsoever," the court said.
Senior advocate Janak Dwarkadas and counsel Hiren Kamod, appearing for the Belgian company, argued that while John Cockerill Hamon acquired Hamon's worldwide trademarks and goodwill in 2022, including the Indian 'Hamon' registrations, the Indian operating company had been granted only a temporary right to use the brand for the completion of ongoing projects.
According to the plaintiff, that limited right has since expired, yet the Indian company continues to use the brand in its corporate name, website, email address and other branding material.
Appearing for Hamon Cooling Systems, senior counsel Veerendra Tulzapurkar and Sajid Mohamed of Agrud Partners argued that the Belgian company had failed to establish even a prima facie chain of title over the 'Hamon' marks, contending that the documents relied upon by the plaintiff suffered from serious infirmities.
The defendant argued that the transfer agreement did not specifically refer to HCI's Indian trademarks and that HCI's Indian business was never acquired by CMI France.
The dispute traces its origins to 1963, when the 'Hamon' trademark was adopted by Belgian company ENGETRA S.A. for industrial equipment, including cooling systems and heat exchangers. Ownership of the trademark and associated goodwill was transferred in 1999 to Hamon & CIE (International) S.A. (HCI).
Around the same period, HCI acquired a majority stake in India's Thermopack Engineers, which was subsequently renamed Hamon Thermopack and later became a wholly owned subsidiary. The Indian business expanded through a joint venture with the Shriram Group before HCI regained near-complete ownership and renamed the company Hamon Cooling Systems.
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