The Delhi High Court has restrained Dabur India from selling its cooling oil product Cool King Thanda Tael in packaging that it found to be deceptively similar to Emami’s Navratna Ayurvedic Oil. The order was delivered on January 31 by Justice Tejas Karia, who held that the trade dress adopted by Dabur amounted to a deliberate imitation of the distinctive features of Emami’s product.
Emami had approached the court seeking an interim injunction against Dabur’s product, alleging that the trade dress of Cool King Thanda Tael copied the essential visual elements of Navratna Ayurvedic Oil. These included the red colour scheme, a transparent bottle of similar shape, a flip-top cap, depictions of hibiscus flowers, ice cubes and ayurvedic herbs, and the overall layout and colour combination of red, white, yellow and gold.
A previous ex parte injunction granted in August 2023 was set aside by a Division Bench on the ground that Dabur had not been given an opportunity to file its reply. The matter was thereafter reheard on merits, confined to the issue of passing off.
Emami argued that Navratna oil is the market leader in the cooling oil segment with a market share of around 66%, and that its trade dress had acquired a strong secondary meaning through decades of continuous use, advertising and sales. It contended that Dabur’s adoption of a near-identical trade dress was dishonest and aimed at benefiting from the goodwill associated with Navratna.
Dabur opposed the injunction, contending that the use of the colour red, cooling imagery such as ice and herbs, and descriptive words like “thanda” and “cool” were common to the trade and functional in nature. It also argued that the prominent display of the “DABUR” house mark was sufficient to distinguish its product, and cited prior use of red-coloured oils in its portfolio.
The court rejected Dabur’s arguments and held that its trade dress was deceptively similar to Emami’s. The court said: “The essential features of the Plaintiff’s Trade Dress such as colour of the packaging, colour of the cap, colour of the liquid, shape of the bottle and the use of combination of red, white, yellow and gold with the essential features of ice cubes, hibiscus flowers, ayurvedic herbs are copied in the Impugned Trade Dress along with the use of the words ‘Raahat’, ‘Aaraam’ and ‘Tarotaazgi’ in the same order.”
The judge noted that while individual elements like colour or herbs could not be monopolised, the distinctive combination, arrangement and presentation of those elements had acquired secondary meaning in favour of Navratna oil and merited protection from deceptive similarity.
Based on these findings, the court concluded that Emami had made out a prima facie case of goodwill, misrepresentation and likelihood of damage, and restrained Dabur from selling Cool King Thanda Tael in the contested trade dress.
