Vistara entitled to ₹20 lakh damages from Chinese company that sold airline's baggage tags on AliExpress: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday awarded ₹20 lakh in damages to Tata Sia Airlines in its trademark infringement suit against a Chinese company that was selling products bearing the 'Vistara' trademark through e-commerce website AliExpress. (Tata Sia Airlines Ltd v. Shenzhen Coloursplendour Gift Co Ltd & Anr).Justice Navin Chawla also noted that the company selling baggage tags and keychains bearing the Vistara mark gave rise to national and international security concerns at airports.In this regard, the Court said,"Airports are an incredibly critical junction of not only travel but also of trade and commerce; any lapse in security, especially by permitting the sale of vagrantly-infringing goods, would be turning a blind eye to obvious wrongdoings of the defendant.".The Court was hearing a trademark infringement suit filed by Tata Sia in 2020 after it received information about the sale of keychains and baggage tags bearing the ‘VISTARA' marks on AliExpress by the seller, which was the defendant in the present suit.In September 2020, the Court had granted an ex-parte interim injunction in favour of Tata Sia, restraining the defendant company from manufacturing and/or selling baggage tags or any other tags and keychains having the Vistara trademark or any other logo deceptively similar to it. This order was made absolute in December 2020..After noting that the Vistara mark was previously held to be a well-known trademark, the Court held,"The use of the "VISTARA Marks" is not only amounts to infringement and passing off of the mark of the plaintiff but would cause dilution of the mark of the plaintiff. It is also likely to cause deception and confusion in the mind of the unwary consumer.".The Court also reiterated that when the defendant, in spite of being served with an injunction order, chooses not to contest the suit, the same fortifies that they are indulging in activities complained of.Applying the same to the present case, the Court observed,"Considering the fact that the plaintiff is the registered proprietor of the ‘VISTARA Marks’ and none has entered appearance for the defendant, this Court is of the opinion that the defendant has no justification for the adoption of an identical trade mark for sale of their goods.".The Court thus disposed of the suit, holding that Tata Sia was entitled to damages worth ₹20 lakh..Advocates Mukul Kochhar and Aditya Gupta appeared for Tata Sia Airlines. The defendant company was unrepresented..[Read order here] :