In the matter of Marico Limited vs. Minolta Natural Care & Ors. decided on 9 December 2025, the Bombay High Court in Interim Application (L) No. 28667 of 2025, arising out of Commercial IP Suit, dealt with a trademark and copyright infringement dispute concerning Marico’s well-known “Parachute Advansed Jasmine” and “Hair & Care” products. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants were marketing deceptively similar hair oil products under the marks “Sangini Jasmine” and “Hair Protection” using similar trade dress, colour combinations, stylized fonts, bottle shapes and artistic features intended to ride upon Marico’s goodwill and reputation. The defendants argued that the words “Jasmine” and “Hair & Care” were generic, common to trade, covered by disclaimers and incapable of exclusive protection, besides raising objections relating to delay and jurisdiction. Hon’ble Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh held that trademark comparison must be based on overall impression and anti-dissection principles and observed that an average consumer with imperfect recollection was likely to be deceived by the defendants’ packaging and presentation. The Court further held that disclaimers do not eliminate deceptive similarity analysis and that delay alone is not a defence in infringement actions. Finding a prima facie case of infringement, copyright violation and passing off, the Court granted interim injunction in favour of Marico and restrained the defendants from using the impugned marks, labels and trade dress. Neutral Citation: 2025:BHC-AS:______.
Disclaimer: Donot treat this as substitute for legal advise as it may contain subjective errors.
Written By: Advocate Ajay Amitabh Suman, IP Adjutor [Patent and Trademark Attorney], High Court of Delhi
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Marico Limited vs Minolta Natural Care: Bombay High Court Grants Injunction in Trademark and Trade Dress Infringement Dispute
Introduction
The judgment delivered by the Bombay High Court in Marico Limited vs. Minolta Natural Care & Ors. on 9 December 2025 is an important ruling in the field of trademark infringement, copyright protection, trade dress imitation and passing off under Indian intellectual property law. The dispute arose when Marico Limited, one of India’s leading FMCG companies, alleged that the defendants were selling hair oil products under the marks “Sangini Jasmine” and “Hair Protection” using packaging, labels, bottle designs, artistic features and colour combinations deceptively similar to Marico’s well-known “Parachute Advansed Jasmine” and “Hair & Care” products.
The judgment extensively discusses the principles governing deceptive similarity, anti-dissection rule, passing off, effect of trademark disclaimers, composite trademarks, and consumer confusion. The Court examined several important precedents of the Supreme Court and various High Courts while granting interim injunction in favour of Marico Limited. The ruling is significant because it reinforces the principle that trademark disputes must be judged from the perspective of an ordinary consumer having imperfect recollection and that dishonest imitation of overall trade dress cannot be permitted even where certain individual words may be descriptive or generic in nature.
Factual and Procedural Background
Marico Limited instituted a commercial intellectual property suit before the Bombay High Court alleging infringement of its registered trademarks, copyright in artistic works, and passing off against the defendants who were manufacturing and marketing hair oil products under the marks “Sangini Jasmine” and “Hair Protection”. The plaintiff asserted that its products “Parachute Advansed Jasmine” and “Hair & Care” had acquired enormous goodwill and market recognition over several decades.
The plaintiff contended that the defendants copied the essential features of its products including the stylized use of the word “Jasmine”, distinctive bottle shapes, blue and white colour combinations, green cap design, placement of models’ photographs, depiction of jasmine flowers and coconuts, and the overall artistic layout of the packaging. According to Marico, the defendants deliberately designed their products in a manner calculated to deceive consumers and ride upon the plaintiff’s goodwill and reputation.
The plaintiff relied upon its trademark registrations under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and asserted copyright ownership in the artistic labels and packaging under the Copyright Act, 1957. The suit also sought leave under Clause XIV of the Letters Patent to combine causes of action relating to trademark infringement, copyright infringement and passing off.
The defendants opposed the interim injunction application primarily on the grounds that the words “Jasmine” and “Hair & Care” were descriptive and common to trade. They also argued that several of the plaintiff’s trademark registrations contained disclaimers restricting exclusive rights over these expressions. Another defence raised by the defendants was that the plaintiff had delayed filing the suit despite allegedly knowing about the defendants’ products since 2016. The defendants further contended that the products were sufficiently distinguishable because the house mark “Sangini” appeared on the packaging.
Dispute Before the Court
The central dispute before the Court was whether the defendants’ products were deceptively similar to Marico’s products so as to constitute trademark infringement, copyright infringement and passing off. The Court was also required to determine the legal effect of disclaimers attached to some trademark registrations and whether the use of descriptive or generic words could still amount to infringement when considered in the context of the entire packaging and trade dress.
The plaintiff argued that infringement must be judged on the basis of the overall commercial impression created by the competing products rather than isolated comparison of words. Marico asserted that the defendants had copied almost every significant visual element of the plaintiff’s products, including colour schemes, bottle shapes, stylized lettering, placement of graphical features and artistic layout. The plaintiff further argued that delay cannot defeat a trademark infringement claim because infringement gives rise to a recurring cause of action.
The defendants, however, contended that the words “Jasmine” and “Hair & Care” were incapable of exclusive appropriation due to disclaimers and common trade usage. They argued that the use of the word “Sangini” sufficiently differentiated their products from those of Marico. Reliance was placed upon the Supreme Court judgment in Pernod Ricard India Private Limited vs. Karanveer Singh Chhabra to argue that mere presence of common descriptive words cannot by itself establish deceptive similarity.
Reasoning and Analysis of the Judge
Hon’ble Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh delivered a detailed and analytical order discussing the core principles of trademark law. The Court first examined the issue of territorial jurisdiction and permitted joinder of causes of action under Clause XIV of the Letters Patent. The Court observed that Section 134 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and Section 62 of the Copyright Act, 1957 conferred jurisdiction upon the Bombay High Court because the plaintiff carried on business in Mumbai. The Court held that artificial splitting of trademark infringement and passing off claims would be undesirable since all disputes arose from the same transaction.
The Court rejected the defendants’ argument regarding delay and limitation. Relying upon the Supreme Court decision in Bengal Waterproof Limited vs. Bombay Waterproof Manufacturing Co., the Court observed that trademark infringement and passing off constitute recurring causes of action and delay alone cannot defeat a claim for injunction.
While discussing trademark infringement principles, the Court emphasized that marks must be compared as a whole and not dissected into isolated components. The Court referred to the anti-dissection rule and the concept of overall commercial impression. The Court carefully compared the rival products and observed that the defendants had copied the plaintiff’s unique bottle shape, blue-white colour combination, stylized representation of “Jasmine”, depiction of jasmine flowers and coconuts, and overall visual arrangement.
The Court relied heavily upon the Supreme Court judgment in Parle Products Private Limited vs. J.P. & Co., where it was held that trademarks are remembered by general impression rather than photographic recollection. The Bombay High Court reiterated that an average consumer with imperfect memory is likely to be deceived when two products convey substantially similar visual impressions.
The Court also referred to Cadila Health Care Ltd. vs. Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd. principles regarding deceptive similarity and consumer confusion. The Court noted that minor differences between rival marks become irrelevant when the overall impression creates likelihood of confusion among ordinary consumers purchasing everyday products.
An important part of the judgment concerned the effect of trademark disclaimers. The defendants argued that disclaimers attached to some registrations prevented Marico from claiming exclusivity over the words “Jasmine” and “Hair & Care”. The Court rejected this argument by relying upon the Bombay High Court decisions in Pidilite Industries Limited vs. S.M. Associates and Pidilite Industries Limited vs. Riya Chemy. The Court observed that disclaimers do not enter the marketplace and ordinary consumers are unaware of them. Therefore, while deciding deceptive similarity, the entire mark including disclaimed matter must still be considered.
The Court also discussed Section 17 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 concerning composite marks. Reference was made to Ultratech Cement Ltd. vs. Alaknanda Cement Pvt. Ltd. and Three-N-Products Pvt. Ltd. vs. Emami Ltd., where courts recognized that even if a word is part of a composite mark, exclusivity may still arise where the feature has acquired distinctiveness and goodwill.
The Court distinguished the Supreme Court ruling in Pernod Ricard India Pvt. Ltd. vs. Karanveer Singh Chhabra, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1701, by observing that Marico’s case was not based merely on use of common words but on the totality of deceptive visual features and overall trade dress copied by the defendants.
The Court also rejected the defence under Section 35 of the Trade Marks Act which protects bona fide descriptive use. The Court held that the defendants were not using “Jasmine” descriptively but prominently as a trademark and source identifier. The placement and stylization of the word demonstrated trademark use rather than descriptive reference to ingredients.
After examining the sales figures, advertising expenses and market reputation of Marico’s products, the Court concluded that the plaintiff had established strong goodwill and reputation. The Court found that the defendants had failed to provide any honest explanation for adoption of deceptively similar trade dress and labels.
Final Decision of the Court
The Bombay High Court held that Marico Limited had successfully established a prima facie case of trademark infringement, copyright infringement and passing off. The Court observed that the defendants’ products were deceptively similar and likely to mislead consumers. It further held that the defendants had dishonestly attempted to imitate the plaintiff’s packaging and trade dress in order to capitalize upon Marico’s goodwill and reputation.
Accordingly, the Court allowed the interim application and granted injunction restraining the defendants from using the impugned marks, labels, packaging, bottles, logos and trade dress deceptively similar to Marico’s products.
Point of Law Settled
The judgment reinforces several important principles of trademark law. It reiterates that deceptive similarity must be judged on the basis of overall commercial impression and not by dissecting marks into isolated parts. The ruling confirms that disclaimers attached to trademark registrations do not automatically eliminate the possibility of consumer confusion because ordinary consumers are unaware of such disclaimers. The decision also clarifies that even descriptive or common words may receive protection when used in a distinctive stylized trade dress that has acquired goodwill and reputation.
The judgment further strengthens the principle that delay alone is not a defence in trademark infringement actions because infringement constitutes a recurring cause of action. Most importantly, the ruling emphasizes that dishonest imitation of packaging, labels and trade dress intended to capitalize upon another trader’s reputation will not be tolerated by courts.
Case Detail
Case Title: Marico Limited Vs. Minolta Natural Care & Ors.
Date of Order: 9 December 2025
Case Number: Interim Application (L) No. 28667 of 2025 in Commercial IP Suit
Neutral Citation: 2025:BHC-AS:______
Name of Court: Bombay High Court
Name of Hon’ble Judge: Hon’ble Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh
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Headnote
The Bombay High Court in Marico Limited vs. Minolta Natural Care & Ors., decided on 9 December 2025, granted interim injunction against the defendants for infringement of Marico’s trademarks “Parachute Advansed Jasmine” and “Hair & Care”, copyright in artistic labels and passing off. The Court held that deceptive similarity must be judged on the basis of overall commercial impression and anti-dissection principles from the perspective of an average consumer with imperfect recollection. The Court further ruled that trademark disclaimers do not negate deceptive similarity analysis and that delay is not a defence in infringement actions. The defendants were restrained from using deceptively similar packaging, labels, bottle designs and trade dress likely to cause consumer confusion and unfairly exploit Marico’s goodwill.
Disclaimer: Readers are advised not to treat this as substitute for legal advise as it may contain errors in perception, interpretation, and presentation.
Written By: Advocate Ajay Amitabh Suman, IP Adjutor [Patent and Trademark Attorney], High Court of Delhi
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