PepsiCo v Parle: Delhi High Court rejects plea to restrain Parle from using For The Bold tagline on B Fizz bottles, cans

The Delhi High Court on Monday refused to pass any orders restraining Parle from using the tagline 'For The Bold' as part of the label on its B Fizz bottles and cans. [PepsiCo Inc & Anr v Parle Agro Private Limited]..The Court, however, restrained Parle from using the tagline as the predominant part of any advertising campaign for its B Fizz beverage.It thus ordered Parle to discontinue Facebook advertisements and said that the same must be taken down immediately.“Parle shall be restrained, pending disposal of the suit from altering the label on its “B Fizz” beverage bottle/can without prior approval of this Court. Parle shall also stand restrained, pending disposal of the suit, from using the tagline “For The Bold” as the predominant part of any advertising campaign for its “B Fizz” beverage. Specifically, Parle is restrained, forthwith, from airing or continuing the Facebook advertisements extracted in para 13 supra. The said advertisements, if continuing, shall be immediately taken down and discontinued,” the Court said..Justice C Hari Shankar passed the directions after PepsiCo filed a suit for trademark infringement. In its plea, PepsiCo had stated that it produces the DORITOS range of tortilla chips and has launched a global marketing campaign under the tagline “For The Bold” to encourage consumers of DORITOS to live boldly by seizing the moments in life and breaking out of the norm of everyday life, to experience more and live more.PepsiCo claimed that in November 2020, Parle launched a malt-flavoured fruit juice-based drink in India by the name B Fizz and used the mark “Be The Fizz! For the Bold!” on the bottle. PepsiCo further informed the Court about ad campaigns by Parle where it is prominent using the mark “For the Bold.".Parle, meanwhile, filed an application challenging the registration of the trademark “For The Bold” in favour of PepsiCo..The Court considered the case and held that Parle’s application is tenable. It also framed the issue: “Whether the registration of the tagline “For The Bold”, as a trade mark in favour of PepsiCo is valid?”The issue will be decided by the Court as it will take up Parle's plea for hearing on September 25..On PepsiCo’s application to injunct Parle from using the tagline, the Court said that it is not inclined to injunct the use of “For The Bold” mark as part of the label on the B Fizz bottle. However, the Court opined that the manner in which Parle uses the mark in its advertising campaign on Facebook has to be injuncted.It, therefore, passed the injunction order with regard to Parle’s advertising campaigns. “Parle is directed to place on record the entire returns earned by the sales of its “B Fizz” beverage, using the label which contains “For The Bold” from the time the use of the said label commenced, duly certified by a Chartered Accountant. Parle would continue to file, every two months, duly certified figures of returns of sales from its “B Fizz” beverage, during the pendency of the suit,” the Court added..Senior Advocate Amarjit Singh Chandhiok along with advocates Manish Jha, Dhruv Nagar and Avni Sharma appeared for PepsiCo.Senior Advocate Sudhir Chandra along with advocates from Khaitan & Co Ankur Sangal (Partner), Pragya Mishra (Principal Associate) and Shashwat Rakshit (Associate) represented Parle..[Read Judgement]