Conditions Apply: Delhi High Court Nods To Import & Sale Of Second-Hand Trademarked Goods
Conditions Apply: Delhi High Court Nods To Import & Sale Of Second-Hand Trademarked Goods
The Delhi High Court holds that Indian entities can lawfully import and sell second-hand goods bearing trademarks, subject to certain conditions.
The Delhi High Court holds that any Indian entity can lawfully import and sell second-hand goods bearing the trademark of another entity, provided certain conditions are met. The court pointed out the idea of international exhaustion under Sections 30(3) and (4) of the Trade Marks Act, emphasizing that there is no legal limitation on importing rejected or end-of-life goods to India. Such goods may be properly imported and resold, as long as there is no misrepresentation of their guarantee, usability, remaining lifespan, or other relevant factors.
The bench of Justice Amit Bansal relied on previous judgments, including Kapil Wadhwa v Samsung Electronics and Seagate Technology LLC v Daichi International, to hold that any person in India has the right to legally import goods from abroad bearing trademarks and sell them in India. The court clarified that the only caveat is that there should be complete disclosure about the goods being second-hand and not covered by the original manufacturer’s warranty.
The court reviewed the Kapil Wadhwa case, which concluded that parallel imports were lawful as long as the products were undamaged and declared to be outside the manufacturer's guarantee. Furthermore, the court allowed the defendant to import and sell authentic used products that were marked by the plaintiffs, provided that sufficient information was given. The court permitted the release of products that had been in customs since 2019 as long as the defendant submitted an undertaking to sell the items only as scrap once all branding was removed.
In this case the plaintiff was represented by Ms. Shwetasree Majumder, Mr. Prithvi Singh and Ms. Devyasni Nath, Advocates. Meanwhile the defendant was represented by Mr. Sidharth Chopra, Mr.Kanishk Kumar, Mr. Angad Makkar and Ms. Priyansh Kohli, Advocates.
