New Delhi, 15 November 2022: After the owner of the Rooh Afza trademark, the Hamdard National Foundation, filed a lawsuit, alleging that the goods of its Pakistani counterpart are being sold in India via an e-commerce site, the Delhi High Court “permanently restrained” various sellers from selling identical goods under the Rooh Afza trademark, the well-known Indian sherbet.
In the trademark infringement lawsuit brought by Hamdard National Foundation and Hamdard Laboratories India, who claimed that a company called Golden Leaf was selling goods under the “Rooh Afza” mark on Amazon India that were not being sold by them.
The concerned product, according to the Hamdard National Foundation, is made in Pakistan and does not adhere to the regulations outlined in the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006, the Legal Metrology Act of 2009, or the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules of 2011.
The high court noted that Hakim Hafiz Abdul Majeed first met Rooh Afza in Delhi, but following Partition, his older son moved to India and the younger one to Pakistan. The drink is produced in Pakistan by Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf), whereas Hamdard National Foundation has the rights to it in India.
“The Plaintiffs have used the mark ‘ROOH AFZA’ for a variety of goods, including non-alcoholic sherbets and beverages, for which Plaintiff No.2 acquired the assignment from Plaintiff No.1 on August 11, 1975. One of the plaintiffs’ registrations for the mark ROOH AFZA dates back to the third of August 1942.
Earlier on September 5, the High Court had also ordered Amazon to remove the listings of Rooh Afza made in Pakistan from its platform in India. The court noted that the product has been consumed by Indians for more than a century and that its quality standards must adhere to the relevant rules established by the Legal Metrology Act and the Food Safety and Standards Act.
Additionally, Hamdard National Foundation and Hamdard Laboratories India claimed in the lawsuit that they are the owners of the rights to the names “Hamdard” and “Rooh Afza,” but last year they discovered that different companies were selling “Rooh Afza” items on Amazon. The court was informed that although some of the listings were taken down after notices were sent to the sellers and Amazon India, the business recently discovered a seller offering “Rooh Afza” bottles made in Pakistan. The court was informed that the same did not adhere to Indian legal norms.
The HC further noted that customers might mistake a Pakistani product for an Indian one. When the case was summoned on November 11, the HC was informed that, as per the HC’s most recent decision, Amazon India has given the information of all of the vendors on its platform who were selling the contested products in its affidavit.
According to the Hamdard National Foundation, all of the “infringing listings” have been removed, so their requests for relief “remain satisfied.”
The court has ordered Amazon India to remove any other illegal items in compliance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, as revised this year, and permanently reprimanded the six sellers who sold the infringing goods there.
