“Every Officer’s Voice- Officer’s Choice”: IP Dispute of Officer’s Choice

FACTS OF THE CASE

The plaintiff had launched a new whiskey brand with the registered trademark “Officer’s Choice Blue” in 2011. Later in 2013, they had also registered the label under the trademark ‘Officer’s Choice,’ which was further declared as a very well-known brand name in a case in 2016. However, in June-July 2021, the defendant allegedly violated the plaintiff’s trademark rights and copyright by using ‘KI Officer Voice BLLUE’ as their brand name. The plaintiff further submitted that in addition to using a deceptively similar brand name, the defendants also used misleading packaging and “trade dress” identical to the plaintiffs, making it prima facie evident that the defendants infringed the plaintiff’s copyrights and trademark.

ISSUE AND REASONING

The following images show the plaintiff’s trademark and the defendant’s impugned mark, which caused the violation of the plaintiff’s rights. The item on the left side of each set of pictures represents the plaintiffs’ trademark, trade dress, and packaging; the ones on the right side belong to the defendant. By looking at these images, it is clear that the defendant has tried to reproduce the plaintiff’s brand name and appearance of the product to deceive the consumers, ultimately causing damage to the plaintiff’s goodwill and profits.

COURT’S DECISION

Justice Jayant Nath of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court granted an ex-parte injunction in favor of the plaintiffs and restrained the defendants from dealing in any manner with the plaintiff’s mark that amounts to infringement of their IP rights.

Author: Taru Singhal, student of Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi

Disclaimer: This brief is intended to provide general guidance to the subject matter. It does not contain legal advice. For any specific advice/corrections, write to [email protected]

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