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Trade Dress Protection in India

 

The overall commercial appearance of an item that recognizes it and its source while likewise differentiating it from different things is known as trade dress. A "mark" is a brand, a heading, a name, a ticket, a name, a signature, a title, a letter, a digit, as well as the condition of products, their bundling, or any blend of colors.As a result, the newly developed modern notion of trade mark under Indian law encompasses all features of the TD as defined by US law. Even before 2003, Indian courts were aware of the definition of commercial clothing. Institutional reform of the government, on the other hand, has always been a serious requirement.

This shows that one of the most significant factors in trade dress security, namely the product's usefulness and utility, is also taken into account under Indian TM Law. One of the most significant components of the Indian trade mark scheme is uniqueness, which also applies to trade dress. A TD must be recognizable, which means it must be identifiable by consumers. TD is regarded the same as registered and unregistered trademarks because trade mark protection is valid for both.The Act allows passing-off against the use of identical brand names that aren't registered but are exceptionally well known among the general public, as long as the brand name and the object have a plausible link that the general public can easily perceive.

Some of the relevant cases of Indian Courts are discussed below:

Colgate Palmolive & Co. v. Anchor Health and Beauty Care Pvt Ltd[1] is a lawsuit filed by Colgate Palmolive & Co. against. Anchor Health and Beauty Care Pvt Ltd. A point of controversy was the red and white color scheme. According to the data, shopper confusion is higher at the start of both items when the color combination, package, and state of compartment are the same. If an illiterate, uneducated consumer utilizes another item based on the appearance of the one he has been using, it is considered passing off.To put it another way, if the general appearance of the thing, without digging into the minuscule nuances of the shading color, getup, or spread out showing up on the holder and bundling, gives the impression of uncertainty or dupe as to these fixings, it is an instance of disorder and totals to make one's own merchandise resemble those of the other to benefit from the last's unselfishness and prevalence.

The Delhi High Court found in Cadbury India Limited and Others v. Neeraj Food Products[2] that the brand name "JAMES BOND" is really and phonetically like Cadbury's enrolled image name "GEMS." The High Court additionally reasoned that Neeraj food good's packaging was indistinguishable from that of Cadbury, and subsequently Neeraj Foods was kept from using said hold in a similar way as Cadbury.

L’Oreal India Pvt. Ltd. and Anr. v. Henkel Marketing India Ltd. and Anr[3] it was guaranteed that the packaging of L'Oreal's "GARNIER-Color NATURALS" and the result of Henkel Marketing India Ltd.’s. "Range PERMANENT NATURAL Colors" were unclear. L'Oreal made passing-off processes, expressing it was a significant spread and colorable personification of the L'Oreal name/trade dress. The Court noticed the misleading closeness between the two products' trade appearances, which could prompt character disarray among clients.Because the trademarks for both items were simply carved into the trade clothes, it was agreed that there would be no confusion among the buyers, who were mostly from the working or upper working classes.As a result, there was no breach of trade dress, and L'Oreal lost the case.

Because India is a developing country with severe competition, all Indian businesses want to register their products and differentiate them through packaging, form, color, and design. The particular item will include trade dress protection in the near future in order to be recognized in the market, as trade dress is one of the intellectual property that can be registered, similar to a trademark, and trade dress protection is designed to imitate other products, which helps and prevents consumers from purchasing the product under the mistaken belief that it is another.Other producers of the same item being produced by the supplier are abusing the exterior appearance of the product, i.e. trade dress defense, with the goal of copying the general look of the product in order to profit from the manufacturer's/existing producer's goodwill and reputation. As a result, trade dress may be protected under the common law's passing off provision in order to safeguard the existing producer/manufacturer that is making the specific product's goodwill and to add equal competition to the market.



[1]108 (2003) DLT 51; 2003 (27) PTC 478 (Del)

[2]142 (2007) DLT 724

[3]2005 (6) Bom CR 77.


  By: Ananya Gaur 
(LLM, O.P Jindal Law School)


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