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1957 Supreme(MP) 65

High Court Of Madhya Pradesh
M. Hidayatullah, C. J.
BENIPRASAD AGARWAL - Appellant
Versus
HINDUSTAN LEVER LTD. - Respondents
Misc. First Appeal 206 Of 1955
Decided On : 03/14/1957

Advocates Appeared:
A.P.SEN, A.S.Bobde

The overall design, get-up, lettering, and colors of a label must be considered to determine whether it is likely to deceive unwary purchasers and infringe a registered trademark.

Headnote:

TRADEMARK - INFRINGEMENT - PASSING OFF - TEMPORARY INJUNCTION - SIMILARITY OF LABELS - DECEPTION OF UNWARY PURCHASER - LIKELIHOOD OF INJURY - BALANCE OF CONVENIENCE.

Fact of the Case:

Lever Brothers (India), Ltd., the manufacturers of Sunlight soap, filed a suit against Beniprasad Agarwal, trading as Bajoria Soap Works, for infringement of their registered trademark and passing off. Lever Brothers alleged that Agarwal's Swanwhite soap label was a colourable imitation of their Sunlight soap label and was likely to deceive unwary purchasers.

Finding of the Court:

The court held that there was a prima facie case of infringement of trademark and passing off. It found that the Swanwhite soap label was similar to the Sunlight soap label in its overall design, get-up, lettering, and colors, and that it was likely to deceive unwary purchasers into believing that they were buying Sunlight soap. The court also found that there was a likelihood of injury to Lever Brothers if the Swanwhite soap was allowed to be sold.

Issues: 1. Whether the Swanwhite soap label infringed Lever Brothers' registered trademark? 2. Whether the Swanwhite soap label was likely to deceive unwary purchasers into believing that they were buying Sunlight soap? 3. Whether there was a likelihood of injury to Lever Brothers if the Swanwhite soap was allowed to be sold?

Ratio Decidendi: The court applied the principles laid down by the Privy Council in Malayan Tobacco Distributors Ltd. v. United Kingdom Tobacco Co., Ltd. and Thomas Bear and sons v. Prayag Narain to determine whether there was an infringement of trademark and passing off. The court held that the comparison of the two labels side by side was not an appropriate method of determining deception, and that the overall view of the impugned label must be taken to ascertain whether it was designed to deceive unwary purchasers. The court found that the Swanwhite soap label was likely to deceive unwary purchasers and that there was a likelihood of injury to Lever Brothers if the soap was allowed to be sold.

Final Decision: The court upheld the grant of a temporary injunction restraining Agarwal from using the Swanwhite soap label. It also allowed Lever Brothers' cross-objection and granted a temporary injunction against the use of a red and yellow label for the Swanwhite soap.

M. HIDAYATULLA, C. J.

( 1 ) THIS appeal is by one Beniprasad Agarwal who trades in the name and style of "bajoria Soap Works", at Sindi Bazar, Kharsia, in the Raigarh district. The appeal is directed against the order granting a temporary injunction in a suit filed by the respondent, Lever Brothers (India), Limited, Bombay, in an action for infringement of the registered trade mark of the respondent Company. There is also an application made for correcting the name of the respondent-Company into "hindustan Lever, Limited, Bombay", which is not opposed. The respondent-Company have also cross-objected and asked for the grant of a temporary injunction against certain other alleged infringements of the registered trade mark. This order shall dispose of all these matters.

( 2 ) AS regards the application for the correction of the name of the respondent-Company, no objection was raised, and I allow that application.

( 3 ) THE facts of the case are as follows. The plaintiff in the -suit. Lever Brothers (India), Ltd. , are the manufacturers of detergents, and one of their commodities is the well-known Sunlight soap. 'this soap, according to the affidavit filed in the case seeking temporary injunction, has been on the market for nearly sixty years. The label, which is exhibited in the case, is closely associated with this product and has been in existence for almost the same period. The reports of patent cases as also the reports in India disclose numerous attempts at counterfeiting these -labels and also show that attempts have been made from time to time to make colourable imitations of this label. This is partly due to the widespread reputation of the soap which has been in existence for such a long period. The present case is one of the imitations attempted, and the plaintiff's case is that the defendant, now the appellant, has devised a label which infringes the registered label of the respondent-Company and is likely to catch the unwary purchaser into buying the product of the defendant instead of that of the plaintiff.

( 4 ) IN a matter like this, where we are only at the stage of a temporary injunction, it is not necessary for me to lay down the law too elaborately as to what is included in 'passing off' or in infringement of trade marks and registered labels. It is also not necessary for me to deal at length with the chance of people being deceived by the label of the defendant What I say in this order is not calculated to lay down a final pronouncement upon the aspect covered by the order, but is merely to consider whether the grant of a temporary injunction in the Court below was proper or not. Any observation made by me, therefore, whether in favour of one side or the other, is not to be taken as a decision on merits and is not to be construed as such in the trial of the suit. ( 5 ) HAVING guarded myself -- adequately I hope - I now consider the question of the temporary injunction. The defendant has put on the market a soap which is called the "swanwhile" scap. At first the plaintiff had produced a label in which there was a greater degreei of resemblance, but the defendant has exhibited a label in which there are some changes. It does not matter which of these two labels is considered; but the question which I have to decide is whether there is such a colourable imitation that an unwary purchaser is likely to be deceived by the resemblance into believing that he is buying the goods of the Lever Brothers instead of those of the Bajoria Soap Works. It may be pointed out here that in registering their trade mark the Lever Brothers did not register it in any particular colour. They had their label registered in black and white and in view of the provisions of the Indian Trade Marks Act, 1940. as also of the previous Trade Marks Act, their registration covers all colours and combination of colours. The short point, therefore, is whether the attempt to put out products of the bajoria Soap Works in the impugncd labels causes pri





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