In Brief
The Supreme Court resolved a critical issue regarding the interplay between rectification proceedings and infringement suits under the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958. When a trade mark infringement suit is pending and the defendant raises the plea of invalidity of the plaintiff's registration, the Act mandates a specific two-stage procedure: the civil court must first find the invalidity plea prima facie tenable and frame an issue; only then does jurisdiction vest in the statutory authority (High Court or Registrar) to decide the invalidity on merits. If the aggrieved party fails to approach the statutory authority within the prescribed time, the plea is deemed abandoned. The Court held that this deemed abandonment extinguishes all rights to seek rectification, even under the independent remedy provisions. The two procedural regimes cannot coexist; parties cannot bypass statutory requirements by pursuing separate parallel proceedings.
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