Delhi High Court rules in favour of Vistara in trademark infringement suit; awards ₹20 lakh in damages

Delhi High Court rules in favour of Vistara in trademark infringement suit; awards ₹20 lakh in damages

The Delhi High Court in its recent judgement ruled in favor of Tata Sia Airlines in a trademark infringement suit filed against Chinese Company for selling products bearing the 'Vistara' trademark through e-commerce website AliExpress. A total of ₹20 lakh in damages was awarded in favor of Tata Sia.

The single judge bench comprising of Justice Navin Chawla also noted that the selling of baggage tags and keychains bearing the mark 'Vistara' gave rise to national and international security concerns at airports.

In this regard, the Court said,

"Airports are an incredibly critical junction of not only travel but also of trade and commerce; any lapse in security, especially by permitting the sale of vagrantly-infringing goods, would be turning a blind eye to obvious wrongdoings of the defendant."

The present infringement suit was filed in 2020 by Tata Sia after it received information about the sale of keychains and baggage tags bearing its mark on AliExpress. Following this, in September 2020 the Court granted an ex-parte interim injunction in favor of Tata Sia, restraining the defendant company from manufacturing and/or selling baggage tags or any other tags and keychains having the Vistara trademark or any other logo deceptively similar to it. This order was made absolute in December 2020.

After noting that the Vistara mark was previously held to be a well-known trademark, the Court held,

"The use of the "VISTARA Marks" is not only amounts to infringement and passing off of the mark of the plaintiff but would cause dilution of the mark of the plaintiff. It is also likely to cause deception and confusion in the mind of the unwary consumer."

The Court observed,

"Considering the fact that the plaintiff is the registered proprietor of the 'VISTARA Marks' and none has entered appearance for the defendant, this Court is of the opinion that the defendant has no justification for the adoption of an identical trade mark for sale of their goods."

The Court thus disposed of the suit, holding that Tata Sia was entitled to damages worth ₹20 lakh