That Delhi High Court has issued a temporary order restraining Dabur from selling ‘Cool King Thanda Tel’ in packaging confusing or similar to Emami’s ‘Navratna Ayurvedic Oil’.
The bench consists of Justice C. Hari Shankar noting that there is a clear attempt by Dabur to make its products appear similar to Emami’s Navratna Ayurvedic Oil and prima facie, the same is meant to create confusion in the minds of the average consumer.
“In this case, when one compares the plaintiff’s and defendant’s products, it is abundantly clear, in my opinion, that the defendant has knowingly copied nearly every essential and distinctive feature of the plaintiff’s product, apparently taking advantage of the good faith and reputation earned by the plaintiff’s product over a period of time. certain.” The court observed as it ruled that a clear prima facie passing off case was brought against Dabur.
Procession at the High Court
Emami Limited (“Plaintiff”) filed a lawsuit against Dabur India Ltd. (the “Defendant”), for passing and infringing Emami’s trademark, design and copyright in respect of its ‘Navratna Ayurvedic Oil’.
The court observed that Navratna Emami oil has been on the market since 1989, while Dabur’s ‘Cool King Thanda Oil’ only entered the market in May 2023. The similarity of the two products when compared, both in the form of bottles and sachets, is striking. and flashy. Noting the similarities between the two, the Court said, “When one looks at the two bottles, they are similar in shape, the slight differences in the two shapes are so subtle as to not impress the average customer. The oil contained in the two bottles is red” adding that the use of red for oil is also lifted from the red oil used by Emami.
It has been concluded that there was a clear effort by Dabur to make its ‘King Cool Thanda Tel’ product appear as similar as possible to Navratna Emami’s Ayurvedic Oil.
The court said that in its prima facie opinion, Dabur consciously tried to emulate the essential features of Navratna Emami’s Ayurvedic Oil makeup and trade dress, in order to seize the market that has been diligently developed since 1989. Therefore, Emami has been successful in making the case prima facie died.
“Therefore, at the ad interim stage, I am of the opinion that the plaintiff has succeeded in making a prima facie case through, by the defendant, his product as the plaintiff’s product and a conscious effort by creating confusion in the market by adopting trade dress similar to the plaintiff’s trade dress,” The court decided.
Dabur also placed the altered product packaging before the Court, but the same was rejected while observing that the altered packaging was also infringing.
Holding that Emami has clearly accumulated goodwill with respect to its Navratna brand, the Court issued the following provisional injunctions in its favor:
“Until the next court date, the defendant is prohibited from selling his product, in any way, in the defendant’s packaging or in any other packaging, which is confusingly or deceptively similar to the defendant’s packaging. Replication of the essential features of the package, which I have noted here above, in another alternative package proposed by the defendant, is also tantamount to a violation of this order.”
Case Title: Emami Limited vs Dabur India Ltd.
Case No.: CS(COMM) 532/2023
Plaintiff’s Legal Counsel: Mr. Abhimanyu Bhandari, Ms. Char Mehta, Ms. Roohe Hina Dua, Mr. Harshit Khanduja and Mr. Sahib Kochhar, Adv.
The Defendant’s Legal Counsel: Mr. Rajiv Nayar, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Anirudh Bakhru, Mr. Ankur Chiber, Mr. Prabhu Tandon, Ms. Kripa Pandit, Ms. Navreet Kaur and Mr. Christopher, Ms. Pragya Choudhary, Mr. Vijay Laxmi Rathi and Mr. Umang Tyagi, Adv.
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