Amazon Challenges Delhi HC’s Trademark Infringement Verdict

Amazon has now moved the division bench of the Delhi High Court, challenging its single-judge order that asked the company to pay damages worth INR 339.3 Cr to Lifestyle Equities for alleged copyright infringement of its registered trademark Beverly Hills Polo Club (BHPC).

The Delhi HC judge Pratibha M Singh in February noted that the ecommerce giant infringed upon the BHPC, owned by Lifestyle Equities. 

Justice Singh highlighted that Amazon, as a dominant player, used its platform to promote its own products at deep discounts, sometimes at just 10% of the price of BHPC products, using a similar mark, thereby diluting the BHPC brand. 

Amazon is now arguing that Lifestyle Equities had not provided sufficient evidence of infringement and that the matter required detailed examination. The division bench, led by Justice Hari Shankar, has posted the matter for further hearing.

The issue traces back to 2020 when Lifestyle Equities filed a trademark infringement suit against Amazon and Cloudtail India, alleging unauthorised use of a deceptively similar mark on apparel and other products sold on their platforms.  

Cloudtail is a joint venture between Amazon and Catamaran Ventures (the family office of Infosys cofounder Narayana Murthy) that operated as a major seller on Amazon India and was directly involved in selling these infringing products.

The court then issued an interim injunction restraining Amazon and its associates from using the infringing logo and directed Amazon Seller Services to remove the products from its platform.

It is pertinent to note that the February HC ruling marks a significant landmark in Indian trademark law, especially around liability of global ecommerce platforms for trademark infringement in India, demonstrating that ecommerce giants can be held directly accountable for infringing activities on their platforms.

In a parallel context, Lifestyle Equities had previously filed an intellectual property case against Amazon in the UK. The UK Supreme Court also ruled in favour of the complainant in March last year. 

The ecommerce giant has also come under the scanner of the country’s antitrust regulator, CCI. It found Amazon and Flipkart guilty of violating the competition laws by giving preference to only some sellers on their platforms.