Colourable imitation of a product shall be restrained : Delhi HC
Citation : CS(COMM) 757 of 2023
Decided On : 19th October, 2023
Coram : Justice Prathiba M. Singh
Introduction :
The plaintiff filed a suit under the XXXIX Rules 1 & 2 CPC to restrain the defendants from using the design and selling the products on online platforms. The plaintiff had given an opportunity to resolve the dispute prior to the defendant but upon having no response, filed a suit in the HC of Delhi
Facts:
Sunshine Teahouse, the plaintiff is the owner of the popular brand name Chaayos and also runs and maintains cafes with tea, snacks, beverages etc. The name “CHAAYOS” was registered in the year 2017 after adopting it in 2012. The plaintiff has also manufactured and launched various other products under the same brand name. The products are manufactured and marketed in their own distinctive style with different flavour names.
The plaintiff had a successful turnover of Rs.10 cr in the year 2022-23 for under the brand name “CHAAYOS” and has also sold various other goods in different countries. They have a website under the domain name, www.chaayos.com and sell their products in various other platforms including Amazon, flipkart, Bigbasket, Instamart etc.
The defendant, Grey Mantra Solutions sells their tea based products on online platforms and the plaintiffs have alleged the defendants in selling their products online in amazon under the name “TEACURRY” and “JUST VEDIC”
The plaintiff claimed that the defendant had copied and adopted distinctive elements of their packaging and the design format. The word “Chaai” and “masala” in both the manufacturers were alike including the colour combination, writing script, and the depiction of flavour in pictorial format.
Courts Analysis and Judgement:
The court observed that there is a physical resemblance between the products manufactured by the plaintiff and the defendant. The defendant had acted with malafide intention and has imitated the plaintiff’s products. It was also observed that the defendant had done it to present their products is the same as the plaintiff and had copied the online listings as well.
The court passed an order and directed the defendant to restrain from manufacturing, selling the products which have copied elements of “CHAAYOS” and the online listings to be taken down within a week from the date of passing the order as there is no colorable distinction present.
The matter would be next listed on 29th January,2024
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Written by- Sushant Kumar Sharma