SAP SE v. Anoop Tech & Ors
In the High Court of Delhi
CS (Comm) 528/2020 and I.A. 11267/2020
Before Justice Prathiba M. Singh
Decided on April 16, 2022

Relevancy of the case: Permanent injunction restraining an online training website from using the plaintiff’s logo and copyrighted material

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Copyright Act, 1957 (Section 2)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The plaintiff is a company that provides SAP solutions and similar services in India through its subsidiary company (SAP India Private Limited).
• The software is sold under the name and marks ‘SAP’ with different module numbers and versions. The plaintiff’s software requires trained software professionals to use the same. The plaintiff owns the ‘SAP’ trademark and various versions of it.
• The defendant, Anoop Tech, started offering classroom and online coaching/training of SAP courses on its website on which they used ‘SAP’ logos, training materials and software.
• The plaintiff sent a cease-and-desist notice, to which the defendant confirmed to take down the infringing content.
• The defendant failed to take down the infringing content despite the written assurance. As a result, the plaintiff has filed this suit.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The first defendant’s counsel appeared before the court. He submitted that the defendant is willing to suffer a decree in this matter, and he has taken down the websites. The first defendant does not intend to use the mark SAP or offer training courses concerning various SAP products.

Opinion of the Bench

• Using the word ‘SAP’ either as a part of trading style, domain name, or the services offered by the defendant would violate the plaintiff’s right.
• The defendant’s manner of use is neither informative nor descriptive. It constitutes a trade mark use.
• The third and fourth defendants are registrars of two domains operated by the first defendant. These domain names do not have any relationship with the plaintiff’s mark. Hence, no additional order is required for this issue.

Final Decision

• The first defendant shall take down the infringing content. Since the defendant did not contest the suit, he shall pay the plaintiff a sum of ₹2 lakhs.

Anjini Pandey, an undergraduate student at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, prepared this case summary during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2022.