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  Overview The Supreme Court of India has recently addressed a pivotal question in the realm of intellectual property and arbitration: Are all trademark disputes excluded from arbitration? The answer, as clarified in the case of K. Mangayarkarasi & Anr. v. N.J. Sundaresan & Anr., is a definitive no—at least when the dispute arises from private contractual arrangements rather than statutory rights. Case Title and Citation Case Title: K. Mangayarkarasi & Anr. v. N.J. Sundaresan & Anr. Citation: SLP (C) No. 13012 of 2025 Bench: Justice J.B. Pardiwala Factual Matrix The dispute involved family members contesting the right to use the trademark “Sri Angannan Biriyani Hotel.” The plaintiffs sought a permanent injunction and damages, alleging that the defendants had forged assignment deeds and engaged in misconduct. The defendants, in turn, invoked arbitration clauses present in the assignment deeds, seeking referral of the matter to arbitration. Procedural Journey The Co...

  Consumer’s Right to Approach Consumer Forum Prevails Over Arbitration Clauses: Supreme Court Authored by: Abhishek Jat, Advocate In a significant ruling, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has reaffirmed that an arbitration clause embedded in an agreement cannot curtail the consumer's statutory right to seek redressal before a consumer forum. The judgment, delivered in M/S Citicorp Finance (India) Limited v. Snehasis Nanda , has reinforced the principle that consumer disputes, being matters of public policy, are non-arbitrable unless the consumer voluntarily opts for arbitration. Case Background The dispute arose when the respondent (complainant before the NCDRC) purchased a flat and availed a housing loan from ICICI Bank. Subsequently, a third party expressed interest in purchasing the flat, leading to an agreement where the buyer secured a home loan from Citicorp Finance. A purported tripartite agreement among the complainant, the buyer, and Citicorp Finance was entered...