Delhi High Court restrains sale of Dil Afza on lawsuit by Rooh Afza

The court’s order came on an appeal by Hamdard against a single judge’s order refusing to pass an interim order to restrain ‘Dil Afza’ manufacture Sadar Laboratories from allegedly indulging in trademark infringement.

The Delhi High Court has restrained the manufacture and sale of sweet beverage concentrate ‘Sharbat Dil Afza’ during the pendency of a lawsuit for alleged trademark infringement filed by Hamdard Dawakhana that sells ‘Rooh Afza’.

A Bench of justices Vibhu Bakhru and Amit Mahajan said prima facie, ‘Rooh Afza’ served as the source identifier for Hamdard for more than a century and has acquired immense goodwill and it was essential to ensure that the competitors keep a safe distance from the mark.

The court’s order came on an appeal by Hamdard against a single judge’s order refusing to pass an interim order to restrain ‘Dil Afza’ manufacture Sadar Laboratories from allegedly indulging in trademark infringement.

“It is not difficult to conceive that a person who looks at the label of ‘’Dil Afza’ may recall the label of Rooh Afza’ as the word ’Afza’ is common and the meaning of the words ‘Rooh’ and ‘Dil’, when translated in English, are commonly used in conjunction,” said the court in its order dated December 21.

The court also noted that both the products have the “same deep red colour and texture” and “structure of the bottles is not materially different” and thus opined that the “commercial impression of the impugned trademark is deceptively similar to the appellants’ trademark”.

The court recorded that before the single judge, a statement has been made on behalf of the respondent that it would not manufacture and sell syrups and beverages under the mark ‘Dil Afaza’ and thus made it “absolute” till the disposal of the lawsuit.