New Delhi, 7th Dec 2018: Lacoste S.A has emerged victorious in a crucial counterfeit court case brought against two Noida based firms for sale of counterfeit Lacoste SA products.
Lacoste won in the Patiala House Court, New Delhi, after a three year legal battle with the two infringing firms ordered to cease sale of counterfeit Lacoste trademarked goods and pay damages to Lacoste on account of loss to goodwill and reputation suffered from sale of fakes.
Lacoste filed the suit in order to restrain the trademark infringing and counterfeiting activities being pursued by the M/s Fashion Zone and M/s Export Hut, which were using the trademark “LACOSTE and LACOSTE with the crocodile logo” that was deceptively similar to its own registered mark.
In intellectual property rights law, this is called passing-off—making a false representation that is likely to induce a person to believe that the goods or services are those of another.
The court accepted the suit filed by Lacoste and directed for the appointment of the Local Commissioner in order to carry out the Search and Seizure Action on the infringing firm’s premises.
Pronouncing the judgment, the Hon’ble Judge Ms. Twinkle Wadhwa, said that the Lacoste is entitled to permanent injunction restraining Kulbhusan Goel, Proprietor of M/s Export Hut, from sale of counterfeit LACOSTE products. Goel was also ordered to pay damages of Rs. 1 lac to LACOSTE, while Mr. Puneet Kumar, Manager of M/s Fashion Zone, gave an undertaking on compromise basis to not infringe Lacoste rights in the future.
