HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED Vs. SAMBHU DAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner company carries on the business of manufacturing, marketing and sale of various toilet soaps, washing soaps and detergents in respect of which it claims to be the market leader in the country. In or about 1955 the petitioner company adopted and commenced use of the trade mark WHEEL in relation to detergent powder in India. Apart from WHEEL the petitioner also launched another premium version of the WHEEL brand, known as WHEEL BLUE also known as ACTIVE WHEEL. The said mark ACTIVE WHEEL was launched with a reformulation and new packaging. The label bears original artistic work, get up and layout containing the swirl device and prominent display of lemons along with white jasmine flower covering the border of the label with trade mark ACTIVE WHEEL appearing at the centre of the label and the device of Wheel at the lower right hand end of the label. It is stressed that the flowers and lemons and the placement thereof and the white burst at the centre of the said labelpackaging are the essential features of the artistic work comprised in the said labelpackaging and are the distinctive to their product ACTIVE WHEEL. The petitioner company is the owner of the copyright vested in the artistic work of the said ACTIVE WHEEL labelpackaging and no one can copy the same without express permission or consent of the petitioner company. The petitioner is the owner of the registered trade marks WHEEL and ACTIVE WHEEL and possesses rights in the trade dress and the overall get up of the labelpackaging WHEEL and ACTIVE WHEEL products. The petitioner has disclosed the copies of the labels packaging to demonstrate the packaging design and get up for their product ACTIVE WHEEL. The petitioner further claims that their product ACTIVE WHEEL sold in labelspackaging in which they own the copy right and the trade mark ACTIVE WHEEL of which they are the registered proprietor which includes the distinctive style and colour scheme and getup of their labels and packets has become a household name and come to be identified in the trade and the general public as signifying the product of the petitioner which have acquired substantial reputation and have extensive sales throughout India. The petitioner has also disclosed the figures of its all India annual sale of the said product with the trademark ACTIVE WHEEL, as well as the expenditures incurred for advertising the said products.

(2.) Recently in the month of October 2019, in course of a market survey carried out by the petitioner at P.O.- Pairamatihana, P.S.

(3.) The petitioner claims that the packets, labels andor cartons in which the respondent's detergent powder is sold in the market are colourable and deceptive imitation of the well-known label and artistic work and graphics comprised in the label of their product Active Wheel of which they are the owner. By using the labelspackets which are deceptively similar to the labels in which the petitioner sells the detergent powder under the name ACTIVE WHEEL the respondent is seeking to appropriate to itself the goodwill of the petitioner by misrepresenting to the public that that detergent powder manufactured by him is that of the petitioner's manufacture. The respondent has chosen the said labels and packets by misrepresenting in the course of his business to prospective customers or consumers of the said detergent powder to injure the petitioner's business and goodwill and, in fact, caused substantial loss and injury to the business and goodwill of the petitioner. It is asserted that by imitating the artistic work, trade dress and the artistic creativity by the respondent of the labels in connection with the detergent powder not manufactured by the petitioner results in infringement of the petitioner copyright subsisting in the labelpackaging of the product ACTIVE WHEEL.