Dabur challenges Delhi HC ruling in Emami trade dress row

NEW DELHI: Dabur India on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court's order that restrained it from selling its "Cool King Thanda Tel" hair oil or any other oil similar to Emami's Navratna Ayurvedic Oil, till the latter's permanent injunction suit is decided.

A Bench led by Justice PS Narsimha posted the matter for hearing next week.

Upholding the curbs on Dabur hair oil over Emami trade dress, the HC's division bench in May said that Dabur had been rightly restrained because the trade dress of its product, including the layout and colour scheme, was deceptively similar to Emami's product and was likely to mislead consumers, amounting to passing off.


"There is an attempt on Dabur's part to copy the essential features of the get-up and trade dress of Emami's product so as to capture the market and there is a likelihood of damage to the latter," the court said. "More particularly given the fact that all the individual components of the trade dress, though as per Dabur's counsel, are common to the trade, we find they are depicted in a manner almost identical to that of the Emami's trade dress. The said attempt has not been denied but rather justified by stating that the presence of the housemark is enough to dispel any confusion," the division bench had said, while upholding its single judge's January order.