The principles involved in award of damages in intellectual property (IP) litigation in India have seen much evolution in the recent past. The landscape of the award of punitive damages was aggressively set in January 2005, when a single judge of Delhi High Court in a suit for trademark infringement in Time Incorporated v Lokesh Srivastava and Anr (2005), observed that: “This court has no hesitation in saying that the time has come when the courts dealing actions for infringement of trademarks, copyrights, patents, etc., should not only grant compensatory damages but award punitive damages also with a view to discourage dishearten law breakers who indulge in violations with impunity out of lust for money so that they realize that in case they are caught, they would be liable not only to reimburse the aggrieved party but would be liable to pay punitive damages also, which may spell financial disaster for them.”
Aprajita Nigam and Dheeraj Kapoor discuss about the Evolving principles for award of punitive damages in their article published in IBLJ, which can be viewed at https://www.vantageasia.com/