DELHI HC REJECTS BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES LTD PETITION AGAINST ITC LTD

6th April 2021

Recently, Britannia Industries Ltd filed two cases in Delhi HC against ITC Ltd for alleged infringement of product packaging trademark and passing off suit to restrain ITC Ltd from manufacturing or selling the digestive biscuits in its present packaging. The Delhi HC rejected the Petition by stating that Sunfeast Farmlite 5 seed Digestive biscuits were not prima facie similar to Britannia's NutriChoice Digestive biscuits.

ARGUMENTS

Advocates appearing for Britannia claimed that the overall appearance of the defendants’ pack is confusingly and deceptively similar to the pack of the plaintiff’s product, in respect of which the Trademark Registry has granted it registration. By adopting such confusingly similar packing, the defendants have infringed the registered trademark of the plaintiff.

Advocates appearing for the defendant stated that the SUNFEAST logo and the BRITANNIA logo are prominently displayed on the packs, which would minimize the possibility of a consumer mistakenly purchasing the product of the defendant, assuming it to be that of the plaintiff.

DECISION

The Court held that it is unlikely that a consumer, howsoever average his intelligence, would purchase the SUNFEAST FARMLITE DIGESTIVE biscuit mistaking it to be BRITANNIA NUTRI CHOICE DIGESTIVE biscuit, merely because of the perceived similarities between the packs. Accordingly, the application is rejected.

PC: Indian case law