Delhi High Court Rejects Dabur’s Appeal Over Packaging Dispute with Emami
The Delhi High Court has upheld a previous order preventing Dabur India Limited from selling its ‘Cool King Thanda Tael’ cooling oil in packaging that closely resembles the trade dress of Emami Limited’s renowned ‘Navratna Ayurvedic Oil’. The bench, comprising Justices Kameswara Rao and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, reaffirmed the decision made by a single judge earlier this year.
On January 31, Justice Tejas Karia ruled that Dabur’s packaging constituted passing off, deliberately imitating the distinctive trade dress of Emami’s Navratna oil, which has been in the market since 1989. Emami sought an interim injunction against Dabur, claiming that the packaging of Cool King Thanda Tael copied essential visual elements of their Navratna Ayurvedic Oil.
The contentious elements included a dominant red color scheme, a similarly shaped transparent bottle, a flip-top cap, and the depiction of hibiscus flowers, ice cubes, and ayurvedic herbs, all set against a red, white, yellow, and gold layout. An ex parte injunction was initially granted in August 2023, but was later overturned by a Division Bench, allowing Dabur to present its case.
Emami contended that its Navratna product is a market leader in the cooling oil segment, holding approximately a 66% market share. They argued that their trade dress had acquired a secondary meaning through decades of use, advertising, and sales. Dabur, on the other hand, argued that elements like red, ice, herbs, and terms such as “thanda” and “cool” are common in the trade, and emphasized their prominent “DABUR” house mark.
Despite Dabur’s defense, the single judge found that the overall trade dress was deceptively similar. The court held that Dabur copied essential packaging features of Emami’s product, including color, bottle shape, cap, liquid color, and imagery. Emami was deemed to have prima facie established goodwill, misrepresentation, and a likelihood of damage, leading to the restraint on Dabur’s sales under the contested trade dress.
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Today’s Division Bench ruling affirms the lower court’s decision, reinforcing the ban on Dabur from using the disputed packaging. Dabur was represented by Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi and a team of advocates including Kripa Pandit, Prabhu Tandon, Christopher Thomas, Krisna Gambhir, Shreya Sethi, Jawahar Lal, and Meghna Kumar. Emami was represented by Senior Advocate Abhimanyu Bhandari, along with advocates Roohe Hina Dua, Harshit Khanduja, Shruti Garg, and Piyush Jain.
