The Delhi High Court has ruled against Amazon, directing one of its units to pay $39 million, which is over Rs 337 crores, in damages for violating trademark rights.

The lawsuit was filed by Lifestyle Equities, the owner of the Beverly Hills Polo Club (BHPC) horse trademark. It claimed that Amazon India was selling apparel with a similar logo at lower prices.

The court mentioned that stated that the infringing brand belonged to Amazon Technologies and was sold on Amazon India platform.

Legal experts regard this as a landmark ruling in Indian trademark law against a US company. The Delhi High Court, in its 85-page order, stated that the logo on the infringing product was almost identical to BHPC’s trademark and issued a ‘permanent injunction’ against Amazon.

The court said that Amazon had indulged in deliberate and wilful infringement.

It also mentioned that Amazon runs its apparel trade under the ‘SYMBOL’ brand, and the infringing horse logo was used on ‘Symbol’ branded apparel.

It is pointed out that Amazon is widely recognised as one of the key players in the e-commerce industry. As a result, it has the capacity and resources to utilise its strong presence to promote its own products and also those which it chooses to promote.

Meanwhile, Amazon India unit has refuted any wrongdoing but has not officilally commented on the ruling. Earlier also, the company faced with similar trademark disputes in other countries, for instance the UK, where it lost an appeal in 2023 for violating British trademarks.

Source: India Today