Delhi HC Orders Amazon To Pay INR 339 Cr For Copyright Infringement

The Delhi High Court has ordered big tech giant Amazon to pay damages worth INR 339.3 Cr to Lifestyle Equities for alleged copyright infringement of its registered trademark Beverly Hills Polo Club (BHPC). 

In an order, Delhi HC judge Pratibha M Singh asked the tech major to pay INR 292.7 Cr over lost royalties, INR 43.33 Cr over increased advertising and promotional expenses borne by Lifestyle Equities, and an additional INR 3.23 Cr cost along with court fees. 

Lifestyle Equities had alleged that Amazon had been “unlawfully” utilising a mark identical or deceptively similar to the BHPC mark, which enjoys extensive goodwill and recognition in the domestic and international markets. 

The complainant contended that it is the registered proprietor of the trademark in approximately 91 countries, including the US, UK, India, Germany, among others, and claimed damages worth INR 1,260 Cr.

Lifestyle Equities alleged that Amazon, under its private label ‘Symbol’, was selling apparel products with a logo identical to the horse device mark. After buying some of the apparel from Amazon’s website, the company claimed that the logo being used was “nothing but a slavish imitation” of its BHPC logo.  

“The plaintiffs contend that such unauthorised use of the infringing marks on the defendant’s platform constitutes trademark infringement and misrepresentation, causing consumer confusion and dilution of the plaintiffs’ mark and goodwill,” the court’s order read. 

Earlier, the court had passed an ad-interim injunction restraining Amazon, its affiliate Cloudtail India Pvt Ltd (initially a JV between Catamaran and Amazon), and Amazon Seller Service Pvt Ltd from infringing on the trademark and asking them to take down the products hosted on Amazon’s website within 72 hours.  

While Amazon Technologies didn’t appear before the court, leading to ex-parte proceedings against the company, Cloudtail acknowledged its involvement in the sale of the infringing products between 2015 and July 2020. 

It is pertinent to mention that Lifestyle Equities had also filed an intellectual property case against Amazon in the UK. The UK Supreme Court, in a judgement on March 6, 2024, also ruled in favour of the complainant. 

This adds to the legal and regulatory troubles that Amazon has been facing in India. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) found Amazon and Flipkart guilty of violation of the competition laws by giving preference to only some sellers on their platforms. 

In its report on Amazon, the CCI said that preference was given to specific sellers on the ecommerce platform, which ultimately resulted in grabbing customer’s “attention” towards their products more effectively. 

Despite these troubles, Amazon continues to be bullish on India. Most recently, it extended its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to accelerate ecommerce exports from India. The ecommerce major plans to increase its contribution in exports from India to $80 Bn.