In a trademark dispute between beverage giants, PepsiCo and its Indian arm sued Parle Agro for using the tagline “For The Bold” in its B Fizz drink advertisements and packaging, claiming it infringed their registered rights and caused confusion in the market. The Delhi High Court had earlier passed a detailed order in September 2023 partially restraining Parle from using the tagline as the main focus in new ads, barring changes to product labels without court approval, directing removal of specific old social media posts, and requiring Parle to file regular sales revenue certificates every two months. When PepsiCo later found some old 2022 posts still visible on Parle’s X/Twitter and Instagram accounts and noticed that the sales reports had not been filed on time, they moved a fresh application accusing Parle of deliberately disobeying the court’s directions and seeking punishment including possible jail time for Parle and its officers. Parle argued the leftover posts were old, forgotten items removed as soon as the application was filed, amounting only to an honest oversight rather than intentional defiance, and that the delayed sales reports caused no real prejudice since the full trial on damages was still far away. After hearing both sides and examining the affidavits and evidence, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela ruled that the failure to remove the two old social media posts appeared to be an inadvertent mistake rather than willful disobedience, so no punishment was warranted on that count. However, the court found Parle’s complete non-compliance with the clear direction to file sales revenue certificates every two months to be a serious and unambiguous breach of its order, showing disregard for judicial authority. To uphold the dignity of court directions without escalating to full contempt proceedings, the judge imposed a cost of Rs 10 lakh on Parle payable to the Bharat Ke Veer charity within three weeks and directed the officer who filed the affidavits to tender an unconditional apology to the court within four weeks. The application was disposed of accordingly while the main trademark suit continues.
PepsiCo Inc Vs Parle Agro Pvt.Ltd., 15.04.2026, CS(COMM) 268/2021, Not Provided, High Court of Delhi, Hon'ble Mr. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela
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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