The Delhi High Court has recently issued an ex-parte ad-interim injunction against Ideal Multi Media Network (defendant), restraining it from using MS CMYK Printech Ltd’s (plaintiff) trademark “The Pioneer,” copying its newspaper content, layout, or design, and conducting commercial activities under the mark.
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela granted the injunction finding prima facie infringement of trademarks and copyrights post-termination of a 2004 MoU between the petitioner and defendant in this case.
“Having regard to the fact that the plaintiff is the registered proprietor of the trademark “The Pioneer” and the label “ ” along with the common law and statutory rights of the copyrightable material, which is published, followed by the termination/revocation of the MoU dated 10.03.2004, the balance of convenience is tilted in favour of the plaintiff. The plaintiff shall suffer irreparable loss and injury, which may not be compensated adequately in monetary terms, in case an ex-parte ad interim injunction is not granted,” the bench said.
The court restrained the defendant from reproducing, printing, distributing, or exploiting “The Pioneer” newspaper’s content, articles, layout, format, compilation, photographs, or design.
It also barred the defendant from posing as an authorised user of the mark or collecting revenue/advertisements using it, citing irreparable harm to the plaintiff and balance of convenience in its favor.
The court analysed side-by-side comparisons of the parties’ newspapers dated February 18-19, 2026, noting identical layouts, headlines, fonts, spacing, and content sequencing, deeming them copyrightable original works under the Copyright Act, 1957.
It held prima facie unauthorised use of registered trademarks “The Pioneer” and copyrightable elements like curation, editing, and visuals after the MoU’s revocation on February 17, 2026, amounting to infringement under the Trademarks Act, 1999, and passing off.
MS CMYK Printech, publisher of “The Pioneer” since acquiring it in 1998 from the Thapar Group, holds trademarks registered in 2018 and claims copyright over its news curation, layout, and content.
In 2004, MS CMYK Printech signed an MoU with Ideal Multi Media Network Pvt Ltd, permitting the latter to print and publish The Pioneer’s Bhopal edition in exchange for a monthly royalty of INR 2 lakh, while the plaintiff retained full ownership of all intellectual property rights linked to the newspaper.
Tensions built up over unpaid royalties starting September 2023, leading to a demand notice for INR 1.81 crore on March 8, 2025; the plaintiff first terminated the arrangement on July 2, 2025, but talks dragged on with a temporary extension until December 31, 2025, despite the defendant’s unfulfilled promise to pay INR 47.45 lakh on April 3, 2025.
The MoU was fully revoked by notice dated February 17, 2026, yet the defendant kept printing near-identical editions, which led to the present case.
The matter is now listed before the Joint Registrar (Judicial) on 08.07.2026 for completion of service and pleadings, and before Court on 24.09.2026.
For CMYK Printech : Saurav Agrawal, Ajay Sharma, Vikash Tomar, Devang Shrotriya, Kashish Chadha and Harsh Khabar, Advocates
For M/S Ideal Multi-Media Network: None
