The Supreme Court on Monday asked JK Enterprises, the makers of London Pride whisky if they are willing to change their trade dress, which is caught in intellectual property rights litigation with Pernod Ricard India's Blenders Pride whisky [Pernod Ricard India Pvt Ltd and anr vs Karanveer Singh Chhabra].A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra asked the counsel for JK Enterprises to get instructions in this regard and adjourned the case by two weeks."Why have you (London Pride makers) but adopted the same trade dress and colour and all? Get instructions on whether you will change. We will keep it on Friday week. Ask yourselves, why you suddenly chose to use 'Pride'?" the CJI remarked today.The Court was hearing a plea filed by Pernod Ricard India which owns the Blenders Pride whisky brand. Pernod has alleged trademark infringement by Indore-based company JK Enterprises which manufactures beverages under the 'London Pride' mark.The bench had issued notice in the matter earlier this month.The appeal before the apex court arose from a Madhya Pradesh High order from November 3, 2023, which had rejected Pernod Ricard India's petition to halt the sale of London Pride whisky.
The hearing in the appeal today saw some interesting exchanges.Appearing for Pernod Ricard, Senior Advocate Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued today that the makers of London Pride were piggy-backing on the Blenders Pride products.Representing JK Enterprises (London Pride), Abhimanyu Bhandari submitted that London pride was much cheaper.Senior Advocate Dr. S Muralidhar (also appearing for JK Enterprises) added that affluent customers can easily discern between London Pride and Blenders Pride."Will a person walking into a store to buy blenders pride only say give me 'Pride' or 'London'?", the CJI remarked in response.
He went on to ask the London Pride makers why they had adopted a similar trade dress.As the hearing drew to a close, the CJI commented in a lighter vein that Dr Muralidhar had spoken with "much authority" on the whiskey products".I am the only sober one here," Dr Muralidhar responded with a smile.Apart from Senior Advocate Singhvi, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi and advocates Hemant Singh, Mamta Jha, Mohit D Ram, Rajul Shrivastav, Monisha Handa, Sambhav Jain, Reha Mohan and Anubhav Sharma also represented Pernod Ricard India.On a related note, the Supreme Court had in September last year refused to grant interim relief to Pernod Ricard India in its trademark infringement plea against United Spirits which manufactures whisky under the name 'Royal Challengers American Pride.'
TAGS: Pernod Ricard India Blenders Pride Trademark infringement JK Enterprises London Pride Supreme Court
