Bombay High Court grants interim relief to Sapat International in trademark case

The Bombay High Court has granted temporary relief to Sapat International in a family dispute over the century-old SAPAT brand, observing that another branch of the founding Joshi family cannot use the trademark in connection with tea while continuing to sell products under its IRAVI label.

Justice Sharmila U Deshmukh held that Sapat International--formerly known as Sapat Packaging Industries--is the recorded subsequent proprietor of the SAPAT trademark for tea following a 1995 family business arrangement that split the group’s tea and healthcare businesses.

Nashik-based Sapat International had approached the court against Niravi Consumer LLP and related entities controlled by another branch of the family.


The petitioner, through senior advocate Birendra Saraf and counsel Hiren Kamod, argued that after commercial relations between the parties ended in June 2024, the defendants continued to display ‘SAPAT’ prominently on retail outlets selling ‘NIRAVI’ tea, while also using the mark on price lists, invoices, packaging and promotional material, creating the impression that the tea originated from Sapat International.

Appearing for the defendants, advocate Alankar Kirpekar argued that they had traded under the name ‘Sapat & Co. Nashik’ for decades and that the ‘SAPAT’ brand remained part of the wider family’s commercial identity. They maintained they were entitled to display ‘SAPAT NIRAVI’ because they were authorised sellers of healthcare products bearing that mark, while tea itself was marketed only under the ‘NIRAVI’ brand. They also relied on claims of prior use and acquiescence.

The court, while granting temporary relief to the petitioner company, SAID that as defendant No. 2 had failed to prove its right to use ‘SAPAT’ in respect of tea, the plaintiff is entitled to injunctive relief.

The court also ruled that, considering the goodwill and reputation of the plaintiff’s mark, the use of the mark by the defendants would cause loss to its goodwill and reputation. The use of the registered mark by the defendant Nos. 1 and 2 constitutes an act of passing off. In so far as defendant No. 3 is concerned, the plaint does not set out any acts attributable to defendant No. 3, which would constitute infringement of the trademark or passing off.

Passing off in intellectual property rights (IPR) law occurs when someone makes a false representation that is likely to induce a person to believe that the goods or services are those of another.

Sapat, founded by Ramashankar Haribhai Joshi, launched the country’s oldest homegrown over-the-counter pharma product Sapat Lotion in 1897 and subsequently ventured into the tea business in 1905.

In 1995, the partners of Sapat & Co.--Anish Jayant Joshi and Nikhil Jayant Joshi, the current directors of the plaintiff company--assigned their businesses. The tea business was assigned to the petitioner, and the health care business was assigned to the faction Sapat & Co. Nashik (Bombay) Pvt Ltd, now known as Sapat Global Health Pvt Ltd.