Factual Matrix

In the case of Sadar Laboratories v. Hamdard Foundation, an appeal was filed in opposition to a Delhi High Court ruling that barred the makers of the sharbat “Dil Afza” from selling it after the Hamdard Foundation filed a trademark infringement lawsuit, claiming the product was confusingly similar to its own “Rooh Afza” product.

Issue   

Whether there were deceptive trademark similarities between the Rooh Afza and Dil Afza 

Contention from party 

The attorneys representing Hamdard assert that because the drink has been around for a century and has developed a personality, it is important to compare its phonetic and visual characteristics as a whole. Circular rings were discovered in a bottle by the Division Bench of the High Court, which indicates ulterior motives. Defendant began selling in 2020, and while we began selling in 1907 we are a prior user. It resembles a different version of Rooh Afza. They’re riding the goodwill of the plaintiff.

Additionally, the petitioner Hamdard Foundation claims that the defendants have violated its trademark since the terms “Dil” and “Rooh” have similar meanings and that the sale of another sharbat made by Sadar Laboratories under the name “Dil Afza” is misleadingly similar to “Rooh Afza.”Additionally, it was mentioned that the bottles in which the two products are offered are comparable.

Analysis of court order 

A Bench of the Supreme Court of India’s Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala dismissed the appeal after observing that the High Court’s ruling was correct and that the SC should not interfere.

The court ruled that Rooh Afza already had a good reputation in India before selling some drugs and beginning to offer sharbat in 2020. The appeal by Dil Afza has been dismissed because the division bench made the right ruling.

In its ruling from last year, the High Court noted that there was an obvious connection between the words “Rooh,” which means soul, and “Dil,” which indicates heart. The court stated that because the word “AFZA” is popular and the words “ROOH” and “DIL,” when translated into English, have a common connotation of “together,” it is not difficult to imagine that someone looking at the label of DIL AFZA may recollect the label of ROOH AFZA. The Supreme Court Bench sustain a single judge’s decision to deny the Rooh Afza makers’ request for a restraining order against the sale of Dil Afza.