In CS (COMM) 607/2022-DEL HC- Hamdard Foundation gets relief in trademark infringement case, Delhi HC orders removal of listings of infringing ‘ROOH AFZA’ products on Amazon
Justice Prathiba M. Singh [11-11-2022]

Read Order: HAMDARD NATIONAL FOUNDATION (INDIA) & ANR Vs. AMAZON INDIA LIMITED & ANR 

Tulip Kanth

New Delhi, November 15, 2022: The Delhi High Court has come to the aid of Hamdard National Foundation (India) in a trademark infringement suit by restraining Amazon (India) from using, selling and offering for sale of the products under the mark ROOH AFZA which is identical to Hamdard’s registered trade mark ROOH AFZA.

Justice Prathiba M. Singh was considering a suit relating to the product and mark of the Plaintiff’s ‘ROOH AFZA’ which was filed by the Hamdard National Foundation (India)- and Hamdard Dawakhana(Plaintiffs) against the Defendants- Amazon Seller Services and M/s. Golden Leaf.

The Plaintiff has been engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling various Unani and Ayurvedic medicines, oils, syrups and non-alcoholic beverages. The Hamdard Group of the Plaintiffs has a history which dates back to over 100 years, the plaintiffs submitted.

As per the plaintiffs, they  own rights in the marks ‘HAMDARD’ and ‘ROOH AFZA’ and the annual sales of the products under the mark ‘ROOH AFZA’ brand are over Rs200 crore and a substantial amount has also been incurred by the Plaintiffs in the advertisement and promotion of the brand. The Plaintiff submitted that the second Defendant-which claims to have the contact details - C/o Amazon Sellers Service

were offering for sale the product ‘ROOH AFZA’ on the first defendant-Amazon’s online platform.

Upon these notices having been issued, said listings were removed from the platform. However, recently another listing by one ‘M/s. Golden Leaf’ was found by the Plaintiffs on the website and upon clicking on ‘Golden Leaf’, the contact details were shown as ‘C/o Amazon Sellers Services Pvt. Ltd’. 

After purchasing the products, the Plaintiffs found that the said product was not manufactured by the Plaintiffs and it was indeed manufactured in Pakistan. It was contended that the said product does not comply with the legal requirements of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 (LMA), the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, and the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSSAI) which governs such products.

The Bench took note of the fact that  the Plaintiffs had  pointed out that three purchases were effected by them from three sellers through the Amazon platform and on all three occasions, the product was claimed to be manufactured by Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf), Pakistan from Karachi, Pakistan. 

It was noted by the Bench that earlier,the Court had granted relief of ad-interim injunction to the plaintiff and also permitted the Plaintiffs to inform Amazon Sellers of any listings which they may come across even in the future, in respect of ‘ROOH AFZA’ branded products which are not manufactured and sold by the Plaintiffs so that the same could be immediately removed from the website within 48 hours of the intimation. 

It was pursuant to such directions that the Plaintiffs had submitted that the details of the sellers on Amazon who were selling the impugned products had been disclosed in the affidavits filed by Amazon.

Thus, the Bench decreed the suit terms of the plaint and restrained the Defendants from using, selling and offering for sale the products under the mark ROOH AFZA which is identical to the registered trade mark ROOH AFZA of the Plaintiffs, in any manner and for any goods and services particularly for Syrups/Sherbets products, so as to cause confusion or deception leading to infringement.

The Bench held that insofar as the first Defendant was concerned, in case any other listings infringing the Plaintiffs’ mark ‘ROOHAFZA’ were found by the Plaintiffs, then the same had to be brought to the notice of the Defendant and the same would have to be taken down in accordance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.