Plaintiff’s legal rights must be established – Indian court

In an intellectual property case in India, Jorden Electronics v Bombino Video (P) Ltd highlighted the principle that prima facie legal rights must be established in order for a claimant to be entitled to an injunction.

In this case, the legal rights were those arising from the assignment of copyright in the reproduction of Hindi films. Jorden filed a suit over 23 Hindi films claiming it had been assigned exclusive rights to the films by both the producers and alleged existing copyright holders, according to an International Law Office report. It sought an interim injunction prohibiting Bombino from manufacturing, selling, circulating, distributing or hiring out any video cassettes, video compact discs or DVDs in relation to any or all of the films. For reasons of convenience, the respective claims of the parties were considered in relation to the films, and in each case the court found that the plaintiff had failed to establish a prima facie case for the granting of interim protection. In dismissing the application, the court noted that it is settled law that in order to be entitled to an injunction, the plaintiff must establish a prima facie legal right to the same.