Firm represented Havells in relation to a matter involving HPL Electric and Power Limited (“HPL”) which had proposed an Initial Public Offer in February 2016 and uploaded a DRHP on SEBI website wherein it referred to “Havell’s Private Limited” and “Havells Electronics Private Limited” as its promoters. Havells filed a suit against HPL before the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, praying for an injunction against the use of the word “Havells” by HPL in the IPO documents since it was leading to a confusion in the securities market. The Learned Single Judge, directed HPL to incorporate a disclaimer that the said companies are not associated with Havells at all places where the word “Havells” was mentioned in the IPO documents. Thereafter, the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court also directed HPL to comply with the order passed by the Learned Single Judge and to also incorporate the said disclaimer on its website. The case was very challenging considering the issues involved. Absence of direct judicial precedent on the issues was another challenge. This was a ‘first of its kind’ case in view of the peculiar facts of the case where there was an apparent conflict between SEBI Regulations and Intellectual Property Rights of the Brand in question.

The core team representing Havells included Ajay Bhargava, Partner; Vanita Bhargava, Partner; Ankur Sangal, Senior Associate and Sucheta Roy, Associate with help and guidance from Sharad Abhyankar, Partner; Nikhilesh Panchal, Partner and Madhur Kohli, Associate Partner