Whiskey bottles placed before Supreme Court in alleged trademark infringement case

New Delhi: The legal battle over alleged infringement of registered trademarks by whiskey brands witnessed an unusual sight in the Supreme Court as bottles of liquor were produced before the tribunal at the country’s highest level. A tribunal headed by tribunal chairman supremo DY Chandrachud was hearing a statement by liquor company Pernod Ricard India Pvt Ltd, which manufactures and sells whiskey ‘Blenders Pride’ and ‘Imperial Blue’, contrary to its last November verdict. . Tribunal Superior de Madhya Pradesh. Pernod Ricard had appealed to a superior tribunal against an order passed by the Indore commercial tribunal, which had responded to its request to issue temporary precautionary measures. The company had alleged violation of its brand. It had told the High Tribunal that it had registered marks in respect of ‘Blenders Pride’ and ‘Imperial Blue’ and it also had a registered mark in respect of Seagram’s, which is its own brand and is sold under different brands. Appears in products. Additionally, JK Enterprises copied its brand and manufactured and sold its own whiskey with the “London Pride” brand. The senior tribunal dismissed Pernod Ricard’s plea saying that prima facie the tribunal did not commit any error in holding that it did not find any similarity in the brand of JK Enterprises which could be termed as imitation of Pernod Ricard’s brand. Is. , , The case was heard before the senior tribunal on Friday. During the hearing, lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, representing Pernod Ricard, showed whiskey bottles to the tribunal. He told the tribunal, which also included Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra, that the bottles were also similar. “Issue notice in respect of the request for suspension as well as the petition for special leave returnable on January 19, 2023,” the tribunal said in its order. Pernod Ricard had argued before the tribunal that ‘Pride’ was the most essential and distinctive component of its brand ‘Blender’s Pride’, which it has been using since 1995. The company had stated that they were also using another brand, ‘Imperial Blue’, since 1997 and that they were selling whiskey with the same label, packaging and commercial appearance. A packaging, sold with an appearance and an appearance that is confusingly similar to the commercial brand Al Imperial Blue”, pointed out the Tribunal’s superior in its decision. The second part stated that liquor was being manufactured and sold in Madhya Pradesh with the brand ‘London Pride’ and the brand ‘London Pride’ was completely different in name, style and composition from any brand already registered . Counsel for the other party had argued before the High Tribunal that a simple comparison of the brands clearly showed that there was no similarity between them which could create confusion in the mind of the consumer while purchasing whiskey.