'Blender's Pride' vs 'London Pride': Whiskey bottles displayed in Supreme Court

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 6

Whisky bottles were displayed on Friday in the Supreme Court as it heard a trademark dispute between ‘Blenders Pride’ and ‘London Pride’.

Liquor major Pernod Ricard India Pvt Ltd, which manufactures and sells ‘Blenders Pride’ and ‘Imperial Blue’ whisky, has moved the top court against the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s verdict rejecting its plea for temporary injunction against JK Enterprises which allegedly imitated its trademark and was manufacturing and selling its whisky under the trademark ‘London Pride’.

“There can't be a better copy, if I may say so; I have put in the photograph but it’s better to see,” senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi told a Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud and went on to show bottles of the brands to the Bench.

The two brands -- Blender's Pride and Imperial Blue -- were registered brands with 2000 crores as turnover, Rohatgi said, adding "Imperial Blue" has been copied through an identical bottle design.

Placing the bottles on the dais for the Bench to see, Rohatgi said, “Something worse, the bottle is absolutely identical, Seagram is also mine, and they are using it. They are getting it either manufactured from somewhere else or getting from kabaadi, because they can't get Seagram.”

The Bench issued notice on the plea filed by Pernod Ricard India Pvt Ltd for stay as also the Special Leave Petition after Rohatgi alleged that registered mark, name, packaging and bottling – everything had been copied and that it was a clear case of infringement of copyright. The Bench posted the matter for further hearing on January 19.

Earlier, the MP High Court had dismissed Pernod Ricard’s plea, noting that the trial court had not committed any error in holding that no similarity was found in the mark of JK Enterprises which can be said to be imitation of Pernod Ricard’s trademark.

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