Pepsico v. Ramdev Industries: Delhi High Court Grants Interim Injunction Against Use Of Logo Similar To LAY'S Chips

The Delhi High Court has recently passed an ad interim injunction against a namkeen manufacturer for using a logo which was deceptively similar to the "LAY's 'Sun Banner' device mark.

Justice Navin Chawla also appointed a Local Commissioner and directed confiscation of all the products bearing the impugned logo.

The Court was dealing with a suit filed by Pepsico Inc. claiming that it was the registered proprietor of the 'Sun Banner' device, which was used in manufacturing LAY'S chips.

The suit was filed against Ramdev Industries, situated in Rajasthan's Bikaner, for using the simile logo while manufacturing namkeen product under the trade name 'MADHAV'. While the plaintiff had no objection to the trade name being used, it was only aggrieved by the use of similar and deceptive logo.

The plaintiff had addressed a cease-and-desist notice last year to the defendant, however, the manufacturer refused to comply with the requisition, stating that the rival marks as also the rival products were dissimilar.

The Court was of the view that the plaintiff was able to make out a good prima facie in its favour and that on a comparison, the two labels or logos appeared to be deceptively similar.

"These are goods that are bought off the shelf in normal grocery shop and therefore, there is a likelihood of confusion, especially keeping in view the unwary consumer. The balance of convenience is also in favour of the plaintiffs and against the defendants inasmuch as the plaintiffs have spent a huge amount in popularising its device mark," the Court said.

The Court also directed the Local Commissioner to carry samples of the infringing material found at the premises of the defendant for submission before Court as also photograph or videograph the proceedings and prepare an investigative report.

Case Title: PEPSICO INC. & ANR v. RAMDEV INDUSTRIES

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