NEW DELHI, Nov 15: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday permanently restrained retailers on e-commerce platform Amazon from selling sharbats made in Pakistan under the ‘Rooh Afza’ brand, owned by India’s Hamdard.
The court’s verdict came after the Hamdard National Foundation (India) approached it with a complaint that sharbats manufactured in Pakistan were being sold in India under an identical name.
The high court’s order came while deciding the trademark infringement suit filed by Hamdard National Foundation (India) and Hamdard Dawakhana, which is also trading as Hamdard Laboratories India, against Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd and Golden Leaf. The petitioner claimed a company named Golden Leaf was selling products under the ‘Rooh Afza’ mark on Amazon India, which were not sold by them.
The high court decreed the suit in favour of Hamdard which had adopted the mark ‘Rooh Afza’ in 1907. The company sells over ₹ 200 crore worth of products under this brand name annually.
Justice Prathiba Singh said in case any other listings infringing the petitioner’s (Hamdard) ‘Rooh Afza’ mark are found, it shall be brought to the notice of Amazon India and the same shall be taken down in accordance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules.
The petitioner said the product, which infringed their trademark, was manufactured in Pakistan, and it does not comply with the requirements of the Legal Metrology Act and the Food Safety and Standards Act which governs such products in India. The petitioner also pointed out that three purchases were made by them from three sellers through the Amazon platform and on all occasions the product was claimed to be manufactured by Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) Pakistan.
(Manas Dasgupta)
