Studds Accessories granted injunction for design infringement of Studds Urban Helmet

Studds Accessories Limited had filed a suit against S.K. Jain & Sons (ABP Helmet) for infringement of its registered helmet design ‘Studds Urban Helmet.’ They sought an ex parte order of ad-interim injunction from the court for restraining the defendants from manufacturing, selling, advertising directly or indirectly, and dealing in any alleged identical designs, which infringe the registered designs of the plaintiff.

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The case:

The plaintiffs complained that the defendants are manufacturing and selling helmets under the name “ABP Wave,” the design of which infringes the registered design of the plaintiff.

By comparing both the helmets from the top view, it is clearly seen that the design of the strip is identical in both cases. Both the helmets bear grain finish on the rest of the helmets and a carbon finish on the strips, Front view of the helmets is also common. The bottom picture of the helmets also depicts the same padding pattern that the defendants have followed, and both the products appear to be substantially identical to each other.

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Novelty has been certified for the shape and configuration of the helmet used by the plaintiff concerning ‘Studds Urban Helmets.’ 

The defendants have deliberately tried to model the impugned helmet to make it look deceptively similar to the plaintiff’s Urban Helmet.

The defendants have relied on the case of Steelbird Hi-Tech India Ltd v/s S.P.S Gambhir & Ors. which dealt with alleged design infringement in the case of helmets but was concluded on a comparison that no infringement existed. However, seeing the apparent similarity between the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s helmet in the present case, the Steelbird case holds no relevance. 

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No decisions relied upon by the defendants can prima facie help them as on a physical and pictorial comparison, the helmets of the defendants are deceptively similar to that of the plaintiffs. 

The photographic comparison of both the helmets:

Order:

Justice C. Hari Shankar of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court granted an ad-interim injunction in favour of Studds Accessories Limited and restrained the defendants from dealing in helmets using the design of ‘Studds Urban’ or any other design as may be deceptively identical or similar to the plaintiffs design.

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Authored by: Sneha Singh; student of Manipal University, Jaipur

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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