Delhi HC Stays INR 340 Cr Trademark Infringement Verdict Against Amazon

The Delhi High Court has reportedly stayed an order that directed ecommerce major Amazon to cough up INR 340 Cr in damages for infringing the trademark of a lifestyle brand.

As per PTI, a division bench of the HC, comprising Justice C Hari Shankar and Justice Ajay Digpaul, observed that it did not prima facie find any sustainable allegation of Amazon’s involvement in the infringement of the trademark.

This follows a single-judge bench of the HC ordering the ecommerce giant to pay $39 Mn in damages to Lifestyle Equities for infringing upon the latter’s ‘Beverly Hills Polo Club’ (BHPC) trademark.

The court posted the hearing in Amazon’s main appeal against the order for October 9.

“The considerations outlined herein above make out, in our considered opinion, an exceptional case, in which it would be a complete travesty of justice to require the appellant Amazon Tech to deposit, or secure, any part of the amount decreed by the impugned judgment, in order to maintain its appeal,” the division bench reportedly said while staying the order.

Noting that the findings by the single-bench were generalised and not specific, the division bench of the HC reportedly reflected the view that “if Amazon Tech desired, it could infringe, rather than that it did infringe”.

“This… is not merely a case in which damages have been awarded against Amazon Tech without any finding, by the learned Single Judge, of involvement, in the alleged infringing activities, but is, in fact, a case where no such pleadings exist,” the court reportedly observed yesterday.

Amazon Vs Beverly Hills Polo Club

The case traces its origins back to 2020 when Lifestyle Equities filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Amazon Technologies and others for allegedly infringing upon its registered BHPC trademark. The petition claimed that the ecommerce platform used its registered logo marks by using a deceptively similar mark on apparel and other products sold on their platforms.

Lifestyle Equities also claimed that Amazon, under its private label ‘Symbol’, was selling apparel products with a logo identical to the horse device mark, terming the logo being used by Amazon as “nothing but a slavish imitation” of its BHPC logo.

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

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

Prior to this, the Court had also passed an ad-interim injunction directing Amazon, its affiliate Cloudtail India Pvt Ltd (initially a JV between Catamaran and Amazon), and Amazon Seller Service Pvt Ltd to take down the contentious products hosted on Amazon’s website within 72 hours. Subsequently, Cloudtail, during ex-parte proceedings against the ecommerce major, acknowledged its involvement in the sale of the infringing products between 2015 and July 2020.

Thereafter, in May this year, Amazon approached the division bench of the Delhi HC and challenged the single-judge order.

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