CrossFit secures injunction over well-known mark ‘CrossFit’
NEWS
By Pallavi Paul
Recently, the plaintiff sought an interim injunction against the defendants using the mark ‘CrossFit’. The plaintiff holds registration in Class 99 (multiclass) of the mark ‘CrossFit’ as a word mark and a device mark. Since then, they have been using the mark extensively and, as a result, have achieved global status and enviable goodwill concerning the mark ‘CROSSFIT’. They also had registered the domain name crossfit.com in October 1999. The Hon’ble Court had even accorded the status of a 'well-known mark' to the mark ‘CrossFit’ in 2015.
NEWS
By Pallavi Paul
The plaintiff, on knowing that the defendants were using the name ‘SFC CROSSFIT’ served a cease-and-desist notice to them for discontinuing using their mark. However, the defendants refused to comply with the notice, stating that the mark ‘CrossFit’ was a 'generic mark'. In September 2020, the social media platform Facebook had taken down the defendant’s Facebook page after the plaintiff filed a complaint against them. However, the defendants created a new Facebook page in December 2020, changing the page name from ‘SFC CROSSFIT’ to ‘SFC CALICUT’; however, it still uses the mark ‘CrossFit’ in their domain name titled sfccrossfit.com.
NEWS
By Pallavi Paul
Justice C. Hari Shankar of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court concluded that the balance of convenience lay in favour of the plaintiff and granted an injunction against the defendants, thereby restraining them from using the mark ‘CROSSFIT’ or any other identical mark, in any medium be it offline/online. The Court also directed the defendants to immediately take down their websites and domain name from the Internet.