Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has imposed a cost of Rs 50 lakh on a company for “wilful and deliberate disregard” of its August 2017 order and continuing use of deceptively similar trademark of Pidilite Industries Ltd’s ‘Fevicol’.
Pidilite, a renowned company in the field of adhesives and sealants, had filed a suit against Premier Stationery Industries Pvt. Ltd. for infringing their copyright and trademark of FEVICOL MR Artistic Work and FEVICOL MR Bottle. The HC, on July 13, 2017, restrained Premier from violating Pidilite’s trademark.
However, Pidilite once again approached the HC in 2021 stating that it learnt that Premier had once again started reproduction of the “essential features” of its products.
However, Premier contended that the current owners acquired the stationery company after the 2017 and were unaware of the court order and also of the undertaking and consent terms signed by the parties, then, agreeing not to use the impugned trademark. Meanwhile, the original owners contended that they had sold the company and hence cannot be held responsible for any disobedience of the HC’s 2017 injunction order.
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Justice Riyaz Chagla refused to accept the arguments, noting that Premier had violated a 2017 order which directed them to refrain from manufacturing lookalikes of Fevicol. The judge also remarked that the company’s previous and present owners were related and there was much evidence to show that they had made false statements, constituting willful and deliberate disobedience of the court’s order.
"The Respondents have failed to offer any apology let alone an unconditional apology and which is evident from their lack of remorse or regret on their part for their wrongful acts and / or wilful disobedience of the Courts Orders,” Justice Chagla remarked.
“Respondents have committed willful contumacious contempt of this Court, it would be necessary for the Respondents to purge their contempt by penalising them rather than their being punished by civil imprisonment. Accordingly, I consider this to be a fit case to impose a penalty / costs on the Respondents,” the judge observed while imposing a cost of Rs 50 lakh.
The court has clarified that in case the respondents fail to pay the amount within four weeks, they should be taken into “custody and detained for a period of two weeks in Civil Prison namely, Arthur Road Jail, Mumbai”.
