All of us are familiar with the famous chocolate product Cadbury Gems- an all-time favorite of all children. In the 90’s, Cadbury Gems created a superhero character called ‘Gems-Bond’ who attacked the bad guys with guns that ejected colorful candies. The character became extremely popular with the children then.
Fast forward to 2005 and one company launched a similar product under the mark ‘James Bond’. This created confusion in the minds of the consumers. The manufacturers of “James Bond’ candies wanted to ride on the popularity of Gems by manufacturing and marketing their product on close lines with Cadbury Gems.
Recently, the Delhi High Court upheld that the Company manufacturing ‘James Bond’ candies had infringed the trademark of ‘Gems’ and imposed a cost of Rs.15 lakh on it for violating the Trademark rights of the manufacturers of Cadbury Gems. In an age when consumer is the king, they have a right not to be misled by false representations and unfair trade practices pertaining to goods and services bought for personal consumption.
Source: Livelaw
Swathi K., Assistant Professor
