Permanent Injunctions Issued Against ITB India In Fairfest Media Ltd. vs Messe Berlin GmbH

An Arbitrator has recently been appointed by the Bombay High Court to adjudicate disputes between Fairfest Media Ltd. and Messe Berlin GmbH. Inter alia issued permanent injunctions against Messe Berlin GmbH for using the confidential information shared by Fairfest Media Ltd. with Messe Berlin GmbH.

Messe Berlin GmbH has been prohibited from using the confidential information, shared with it by Fairfest Media Ltd., elaborately mentioned in the award. While Messe Berlin GmbH has been allowed to conduct its shows in India.

Award mandates that it is permanently restrained from using the confidential information shared with it by Fairfest Media Ltd. for conducting/organising such competing travel trade fairs.

Therefore, Fairfest Media Ltd. is bound to enforce the Award issued in its favor. It intends to take all necessary steps available under the law, to ensure that its confidential information is not misused by the Messe Berlin GmbH in organizing ITB India.

Fairfest Media Limited, organizers of one of the leading travel trade shows, OTM Mumbai, took Messe Berlin GmbH, a German State-owned company to court for a breach of the agreement. The court appointed an arbitrator who passed an interim injunction order against Messe Berlin GmbH in 2019.

The current award is a permanent injunction against Messe Berlin GmbH prohibiting it from misusing Fairfest’s certainly confidential information in the holding of ITB India.

Earlier, Messe Berlin tried to make a bid to enter Indian markets through a co-branded show called BITB in Delhi in the year 2017, which was later discontinued.