During the pendency of the case, Metro Brands filed a leave petition under clause 14 of the Letters Patent to combine its cause of action for infringement and passing off before the Bombay High Court.
Metro Brands pointed out that the alleged passing off had occurred outside the High Court’s territorial jurisdiction and hence sought permission to combine its cause of action before the High Court.
In response, MetBrands argued that it was a smaller Kerala-based entity and pursuing the litigation in a distant forum, without any nexus to the passing-off tort, would cause serious hardship to it.
The Court noted that since Metro Brands had not stated that Mumbai was its only place of business, both the infringement and passing off claims can be pursued in Kerala.
It added that permission under clause 14 of the Bombay High Court Letters Patent to combine different causes of action is not just a formality but a discretionary power of the court.
“When both prayers fall within the jurisdiction of the State of Kerala, there is no question of multiplicity of proceedings, as the plaintiff has a choice of forum. Since the cause of action has arisen within the State of Kerala, it would be convenient to conduct a trial within the State of Kerala. The balance of convenience lies in favour of conducting a trial within the Court’s jurisdiction in the State of Kerala and not within this Court’s jurisdiction,” the Court added.
Accordingly, it dismissed the leave petition.