High Court Permanently Bans Amazon From Selling Pakistan Made Rooh Afza

‘Rooh Afza’ sorbet is manufactured in India by Hamdard National Foundation and Hamdard Laboratories India, but recently the company found that the e-commerce website Amazon was selling ‘Rooh Afza’ made in Pakistan, after which they Had approached the court.

The Delhi High Court has ‘permanently restrained’ various sellers from selling similar or identical products under the trademark ‘Rooh Afza’, the famous Indian sherbet.

According to a report in the Indian Express, the order has been given on a case filed by Hamdard National Foundation, the owner of ‘Rooh Afza’, alleging that a product made in Pakistan was being sold in India through an e-commerce website. Used to be.

A single bench of Justice Pratibha Singh passed the order in a trademark infringement suit filed by plaintiffs Hamdard National Foundation and Hamdard Laboratories India, where the company had claimed that products under the banner of ‘Rooh Afza’, a company named Golden Leaf, were being sold on Amazon India. was selling which are not manufactured by them.

Hamdard National Foundation had claimed that the infringing product is manufactured in Pakistan and does not comply with the provisions of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, the Legal Metrology (Packaged Goods) Articles Rules, 2011 and the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

Rooh Afza was first brought to Delhi by Hakim Hafiz Abdul Majeed, but after independence his elder sons stayed in India and younger sons went to Pakistan. The Hamdard National Foundation in India owns the rights to the drink, while Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) in Pakistan manufactures it.

The High Court noted that the plaintiff has been using the name/mark ‘Rooh Afza’ for a range of products including non-alcoholic beverages and beverages and the same has been registered in India since August 3, 1942.

On 5 September, the High Court directed Amazon to remove Pakistan-made Rooh Afza from its platform in India and expressed surprise that an imported product was being sold on Amazon without disclosing full details about the manufacturer.

However, Justice Singh asked the infringing ‘Rooh Afza’ products, which are not being sold by India’s Hamdard National Foundation, to be removed from the Amazon website within 48 hours.

In the lawsuit, Hamdard National Foundation and Hamdard Laboratory India had argued that they have rights over the names/marks of ‘Hamdard’ and ‘Rooh Afza’, but last year they noticed that various companies were selling Rooh Afza on Amazon.

Meanwhile, some products were removed after notices were sent to sellers and Amazon, but the company told the court that recently it found a seller selling Rooh Afza bottles made in Pakistan. The court was told that this was not in accordance with the laws required in India.

The court had found in the order of September 5 that the consumer may be confused to identify the Indian product due to the Pakistani product.

When the matter came up for hearing on November 11, Amazon India submitted an affidavit to the High Court stating that it has disclosed the details of all sellers selling the disputed product on its platform. At the same time, Hamdard National Foundation said that all the ‘infringing products’ have been removed and hence it is ‘satisfied’.

Court permanently bans six sellers selling infringing products on Amazon India and any other products that violate the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 amended this year , has also been directed to remove.