New Delhi, February 16 The Delhi High Court on Monday directed Deepika Padukone's skincare brand, 82 °E, not to sell, advertise, or deal in products bearing the trademark "Lotus Splash" or "Lotus" until the lawsuit filed by Lotus Herbals is decided.
The order was passed by a bench of Justices V Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar on a plea by Lotus Herbals Pvt Ltd.
The court held that Lotus Herbals, a personal care company and the owner of the mark "Lotus", is entitled to protection against the use of "Lotus Splash" by DPKA Universal Consumer Ventures Private Limited, the parent company of Padukone's skincare brand 82 °E, for its facial cleanser.
"We find that the trademark of the respondents '82 °E' is at the base of the bottle, as against the mark/phrase 'Lotus Splash', which occupies a more prominent place at the top of the bottle. This clearly suggests that the attempt is to make the mark 'Lotus Splash' more prominent than the actual mark of '82 °E'," the court said in its judgment.
"We grant the prayer for a temporary injunction and restrain the respondents… from manufacturing, selling, importing, exporting, offering for sale, advertising, or dealing directly or indirectly in cosmetics, beauty, and hygiene products under the impugned trademark 'Lotus Splash' or 'Lotus' derivative trademarks, or any other identical and/or deceptively similar trademarks to that of the plaintiffs' trademark, which is 'Lotus', whether being used independently or with any prefix or suffix, until the final disposal of the suit," the court ordered.
Lotus Herbals challenged a single judge order dated January 25, 2024, which rejected its application seeking an interim injunction on the use of 'Lotus Splash'.
The application was part of Lotus Herbals' lawsuit against DPKA Universal Consumer Ventures Private Limited.