Amul wins trademark violation case in Canada

NEWS

By Pallavi Paul

Amul takes its first trademark infringement action, outside India in the Federal Court of Canada, against ‘Amul Canada’ and four others, for blatantly copying their registered trademark ‘Amul- The Taste of India’ and creating a fake profile on the social media platform, LinkedIn advertising their product, using their brand image and name, as well as corporate information. Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited (Kaira) and Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. filed a statement for trademark violation and copyright 

NEWS

By Pallavi Paul

infringement of their registered trademark in Canada. Before bringing in the present ex parte motion, the plaintiffs tried several attempts of seeking a response from the Defendants, which were all unsuccessful. Amul claimed that the defendants are not only using the exact marks and designs belonging to them but are claiming to the Plaintiffs too by blatantly copying the information available on their website. The defendants have reproduced the Plaintiff’s copyrighted materials and have advertised the Plaintiffs trademark in association with goods listed on their name. It is pertinent to note that the defendants had no presence at the address listed on their LinkedIn page advertising ‘Amul Canada’. The other four defendants in the present suit include the four employees of the company ‘Amul Canada’ 

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By Pallavi Paul

mentioned on the LinkedIn page. The Federal Court of Canada ruled that Amul has satisfied all the elements of ‘passing-off” in the present case and that the defendants have infringed their ‘exclusive’ trademark. The Court ordered the defendants to transfer ownership of all rights access, administration, and control for and over the LinkedIn pages/accounts, together with any other domain names and social media pages to Amul. Amul was even awarded damages of $10,000 for actions contrary to the Trademarks Act, $5,000 for actions contrary to the Copyright Act and lump-sum cost of $17,733, payable by the Defendants.

NEWS

By Pallavi Paul

Kaira, established in India in 1946, is one of the largest manufacturers and marketers of milk products, and its trademark ‘AMUL’ is India’s largest food brand and a ‘well-known trademark’ in India. The plaintiffs have even sold, advertised and distributed certain AMUL trademarks in Canada since 2010 and even got a successful trademark registration of the same in Canada in 2014.