Delhi High Court Restrains Textile Industrialist Keshav H Tulsiani From Using ‘Adidas’ Trademark
Delhi High Court Restrains Textile Industrialist Keshav H Tulsiani From Using ‘Adidas’ Trademark
He was directed to pay the plaintiff Rs.3 lakh damages and Rs.11.22 lakh as litigation cost
The Delhi High Court has declined to entertain the claim of industrialist Keshav H Tulsiani that he adopted the mark Adidas for his textile goods due to his deep admiration for his elder sister.
The bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula restrained him from trading under the name deceptively similar to the trademark of Adidas AG, the German manufacturer of sports accessories and apparel, stating that the explanation lacked any such evidence, undermining the claim.
The order was passed on a plea by Adidas AG seeking to secure their rights against the use of an identical mark by the defendants for various classes of goods, including textiles.
Tulsiani submitted that since childhood, he admired his sister deeply and addressed her as 'Adi' (immense in the Sindhi community). The admiration was so profound that he was described as her devotee (das). Therefore, the term 'Adidas’ (devotee of elder sister) was conceived.
Tulsiani is a partner and director of Adidas Weaving Mills, Adidas Textiles Industries and Adidas Merchandise Pvt Ltd.
However, the bench stated that when a distinctive and well-known mark such as ‘Adidas’ is copied, it can dilute the distinctiveness, and harm the brand's reputation, irrespective of the differences in the product categories.
The court stressed, “The unauthorized use of the mark by the defendants, especially without evidence of honest adoption, means an attempt to benefit from the established reputation and goodwill of the plaintiff.”
It held there was trademark infringement and the plaintiff was entitled to a grant of permanent injunction.
The judge restrained the defendants or anyone acting on their behalf from manufacturing, trading, selling, marketing, offering for sale or dealing in any way in textile piece goods under the ‘Adidas’ mark or any other deceptively similar mark.
