Delhi HC passes interim injunction against Ramdev Industries' 'Madhav' brand for using logo similar to Lay's chips

The Delhi High Court has provided relief to PepsiCo Inc by passing an ad-interim injunction against a snacks manufacturer for using a logo very similar to the ‘Sun Banner’ used by Lay’s, the PepsiCo brand.

PepsiCo Inc had approached the Delhi High Court to file a suit against Ramdev Industries over the usage of a deceptively similar logo for its product ‘Madhav’.

The plaintiff had claimed that its registered proprietorship over the ‘Sun Banner’, which it uses for Lay’s potato chips, was aggrieved by the usage of a similar logo by Ramdev Industries’  Madhav brand for its goods in the snack category.

PepsiCo had earlier sent a cease-and-desist notice to Ramdev Industries last year, but the manufacturer had refused to comply with the same.

The court said that the plaintiff had a strong prima facie case in its favour and a comparison of the two logos revealed that they were misleadingly similar. The plaintiff also pointed out that the intention of the defendant was to only ride on the reputation and goodwill generated by PepsiCo.

“These are goods that are bought off the shelf in normal grocery shops 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.

Justice Navin Chawla also went on to appoint a Local Commissioner to take stock of and inventorise all products including labels, packaging material, brochures, or any other items that bear the impugned logo or any other logo which may be identical or deceptively similar to that of Lay’s ‘Sun Banner’ device mark.

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