Bombay HC bars rival cement maker from using UltraTech's trademarks
What's the story
The Bombay High Court has ruled in favor of UltraTech Cement, one of the world's largest cement companies by sales volume and capacity (excluding China). The court has barred Shiv Cement Co. from using the trademarks 'UltraPlus' and 'UltraHiTouch.' It found these marks to be deceptively similar to UltraTech's well-known products. Along with this order, Shiv Cement Co. has been directed to pay ₹50 lakh as damages and ₹16.48 lakh toward legal costs incurred by UltraTech.
Legal proceedings
'Defendant's use of impugned trade marks likely to cause confusion'
Justice Arif S. Doctor, who presided over the case, noted that "the similarities between the rival trade marks cannot be a matter of coincidence. The rival goods are also the same, i.e., cement." He also emphasized that both companies were dealing with the same product. The judge further observed, "the defendant's use of the impugned trade marks in respect of the impugned goods is more than likely to cause confusion, deception, and misrepresentation amongst consumers and members of the trade."
Trademark infringement
Dispute dates back to 2012
The dispute dates back to 2012 when UltraTech first spotted cement bags with the disputed marks in the market. Further investigations and a court-appointed receiver led to the seizure of over 1,100 infringing cement bags from Shiv Cement Co.'s premises in 2016. Before the ruling, advocate Hiren Kamod and Alka Parelkar VA Associates represented UltraTech Cement and argued that Shiv Cement Co.'s mark was visually, structurally, phonetically identical with or deceptively similar to UltraTech's registered trademarks.
Public interest
UltraTech argued that use of impugned mark compromises public interest
UltraTech also argued that the use of the impugned mark on cement poses a serious risk of deception and/or confusion, compromising public interest. This concern was particularly relevant given that the cement in question was of substandard quality. The company, which has a consolidated capacity of 205.5 million tons per annum (MTPA) of gray cement, is a $9.9 billion building-solutions giant.