In a notable ruling on 8th October 2024, the Delhi High Court addressed a trademark infringement case involving ITC Limited and Arpita Agro Products Pvt. Ltd. ITC Limited, a prominent FMCG player, sought to restrain Arpita Agro from using marks that allegedly infringed on its well-known trademarks, 'NIMYLE' and 'JOR-POWR'. The dispute revolved around Arpita Agro's use of the trademark 'POWRNYM', which ITC argued was deceptively similar to its registered marks.
Initially, on 5th October 2023, the court granted ITC an ex-parte ad-interim injunction, preventing Arpita Agro from selling products under the 'POWRNYM' mark. The defendants later challenged this order, seeking its vacation.
ITC contended that Arpita Agro had previously owned the trademarks 'NIMYLE' and 'JOR-POWR' but had transferred all rights to ITC in 2018 through multiple agreements. Despite this, Arpita Agro allegedly adopted 'POWRNYM', which ITC claimed was a derivative of its trademarks, with elements like 'POWR' taken from 'JOR-POWR' and 'NYM' from 'NIMYLE'.
The court noted that the defendants had once been the registered owners of 'NIMYLE' but had transferred those rights to ITC for a substantial sum of Rs. 100 crores. Consequently, their adoption of 'POWRNYM' raised serious concerns about infringement and passing off.
In its judgment, the court reaffirmed the ex-parte injunction, concluding that 'POWRNYM' was likely to cause confusion among consumers due to its similarity with ITC’s trademarks. The court further restrained Arpita Agro from using the impugned mark or any other marks deceptively similar to ITC's registered trademarks until the final disposal of the suit. Additionally, the court dismissed Arpita Agro’s application to vacate the injunction.
With this decision, ITC secured significant protection for its intellectual property, safeguarding its well-established brands in the competitive FMCG market.
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