Relaxo Footware bags injunction against infringement of its registered footwear designs

Relaxo Footwears Ltd had filed a suit against Nikhil Footwears and Action Footwears Pvt. Ltd for infringement and passing off of some of its registered footwear designs. They sought ex parte order of ad-interim injunction from the Court restraining the defendants from manufacturing, selling, and dealing in any alleged identical products, which were initially registered before Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks by the plaintiff. 

The plaintiffs complained that the defendant has blatantly copied the registered designs of the plaintiff, which has gained wide popularity in terms of sales and publicity by prior and continuous commercial use. 

Upon knowing about an identical imitation of the footwear manufactured under the brand name ‘Action,’ the plaintiff served a legal notice to the defendant. However, the defendants had denied such allegations in reply to the legal notice and mentioned that they would continue to market the alleged identical products under the ‘action’ trademark. Further, they are also using the domain name ‘actionshoes.com,’ which sells the impugned footwear products. Thus, it was evident that the defendants are using a shield of several entities to commit unlawful acts and escape liability and legal actions to restrain which an injunction is the need of the hour.

Justice Jayant Nath of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court granted an interim injunction in favor of Relaxo Footwears, thereby restraining defendants from manufacturing, selling, or dealing in any products bearing designs that are fraudulent imitation of the plaintiff’s registered designs. 

Author: Anurag Kushwaha: Student at Department of Law, PIMR, Indore

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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