COURT – HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ANISH DAYAL
PARTIES–
AJANTA PHARMA LTD ….. Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Sachin Gupta, Ms. Prashansa Singh, Mr. Manan Mondal & Mr. Rohit Pradhan, Advs.
versus
M/S R.R. ENTERPRISES & ORS. …..Defendants
Through: Mr. Siddharth Chopra, Mr. Nitin Sharma, Ms. Shilpa Gupta, Ms. Surbhi Pande, Ms. Arishi Mann, Ms. Naman Tando & Mr. Kuber Mahajan, Advs. for D-5 & 6 Mr. Vivek Ayyargari, Ms. R Ramya & Mr. S, Maheshwari, Advs. for D-7
COMPETITING MARKS
| Original AQUASOFT FC Cream | Counterfeit AQUASOFT FC Cream | |
| Front View |  |  |
| Back View |  |  |
CONTENTIONS OF PLAINTIFF
In the third week of March 2023, the plaintiff, Ajanta Pharma, discovered that their product, AQUASOFT, was listed on several e-commerce websites without their authorization. The defendant was found to be selling a product under the plaintiff’s brand name, AQUASOFT, but of significantly degraded quality.
The address listed on the counterfeit product was discovered to be fictitious. Laboratory testing of the counterfeit product confirmed that it is of markedly inferior quality, posing serious health risks to consumers.
Ajanta Pharma, the plaintiff, is a renowned manufacturer of AQUASOFT, achieving substantial sales annually.
The details of which are provided as under:
| Year | Annual Sales Value (Rupees in Lakhs) |
| 2013-14 | 646.70 |
| 2014-15 | 1,069.38 |
| 2015-16 | 1,184.29 |
| 2016-17 | 1,255.30 |
| 2017-18 | 1,166.01 |
| 2018-19 | 1,299.44 |
| 2019-20 | 1,354.67 |
| 2020-21 | 1,345.88 |
| 2021-22 | 1,841.46 |
| 2022-23 | 2,528.71 |
Additionally, the plaintiff holds domestic as well as international registrations for the trade mark “AQUASOFT”. The details of the same are as under:
DOMESTIC TRADE MARK REGISTRATIONS
| Trade Mark | Application No. & Date | Date of use claimed | Application No. & Date |
| AQUASOFT | 1507320 dt. 24.11.2006 | Proposed to be used | Class 3: soaps, perfumery, essential oils, cosmetics, hair lotions preparations |
| AQUASOFT | 1370430 dt. 12.07.2005 | Proposed to be used | Class 5: pharmaceutical and medicinal preparations. |
FOREIGN TRADE MARK REGISTRATIONS
| Trade Mark | Application No. & Date | Status | Country |
| AQUASOFT | 23835 dt. 24/02/2022 | Registered | Madagascar |
| AQUASOFT | 86266 dt. 24.01.2023 | Registered | Kazakhstan |
| AQUASOFT | 4-2006-03084 dt. 06.03.2006 | Registered | Vietnam |
COURT’S FINDING
Plaintiff made out a prima facie case for grant of an ex-parte ad interim injunction and balance of convenience lies in favour of the Plaintiff.
Defendants were restrained/injuncted from manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, advertising, directly or indirectly, in any manner, on any platform, products under the plaintiff’s mark and trade dress AQUASOFT or any other trademark and trade dress as may be identical or deceptively similar to the plaintiff’s trademark and trade dress.
Furthermore, Defendant No. 5 to 7, i.e., Shopsy, Flipkart, and Meesho respectively undertook to remove such listing and were directed that they place on record all the information, including all data including financial and banking details, that they possess in respect of the sellers, whose listings are available.
Plaintiff was given liberty to communicate any listings, which it may come across in future, which is selling its counterfeit products, to defendant nos. 5 to 7 (copy to the counsel representing these defendants), who shall duly take them down within 36 hours of receiving such request.
Our firm LitLegal represented Ajanta Pharma in the captioned matter.
