KUDOS to Cello!

Cello Household Products (plaintiffs) sued Modware India (defendants)  in the Bombay High Court seeking an injunction for passing off and infringement of design. In May 2016, the plaintiffs had created a plastic bottle named PURO. The bottle was registered with the Indian Designs Office as well. The bottle was marketed with a two-toned color   and certain specific phrases and words were used as well. The defendant launched a similar bottle called KUDOZ in January 2017. The plaintiffs got to know and sued the defendants on the third week of January. The suit went to trial on March 30, 2017. The plaintiffs contended that their bottle had been registered under the Indian Designs Act, and has certain distinctive features that are sole to their bottle only with regard to the shape and size and the phrases and the unique color combination along with the division of the bottle between two parts. They contended that the defendants had infringed their design.

The defendants pleaded that the design was already in prior use and prior publication. The bottle was not a novel idea nor was it unique. The shape of the bottle or anything else did not make it to be Cello’s alone. A bottle is a bottle and it cannot be claimed by anybody else. Further there was simple mosaicing and clubbing of different designs together. The court observed the view put in by the defendant with regard to the fact tat the bottle could not be claimed to be unique by itself It is only the design that can be upheld but then it rejected the defendants claim of mosaicing as they said that every minute detail has to be checked and different forms the eyes of mankind.  It ruled in favor of cello as it observed that Modware’s  bottles  were deceptively similar to cello and they were misusing the goodwill of the company to sell their products. It further rejected Modware’s contention that the Bombay high court did not have jurisdiction whereas they did as pointed by the address on the bottle. Therefore Cello won the case.