After Flipkart, BigBasket faces court proceedings over trademark infringement

Conflicts over trademark infringements have been turning out to be a common grounds between startups and traditional companies. After Metro Shoes allegations over Flipkart for violating trademark rights, BigBasket is facing court proceedings for infringing ‘Royal’ trademark owned by Tea maker Girnar Food and Beverages.

According to the beverage brand, the Alibaba-backed e-grocer entities including B2B arm SuperMarket Grocery Supplies and Innovative Retail have been selling several products under the brand name - ‘Royal’ - which is a flagship brand of Girnar Food and Beverage.

For uninitiated, under the ‘Royal’ brand, the Mumbai-based tea brand has been selling many variants but has registered Royal Cup Tea as its flagship brand.

The Bombay High Court is slated to hear the case on Monday (i.e; June 18).

Lately, a popular multi-brand offline footwear brand Metro Shoes had dragged Flipkart for allegedly encroaching trademark rights by the Walmart-owned company’s private label - Metronaut.

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The Mumbai-based company objects that Flipkart has also been selling footwear brand which is a violation of trademark rights.

Meanwhile, the Bengaluru-based online marketplace along with its four sellers had faced a case by the US-based footwear brand Skechers and for allegedly selling its counterfeit products in December 2017.

While infringing trademark right isn’t a new phenomenon, Blume Ventures-backed B2B logistic provider RoadRunnr had lost a legal recourse against a Delhi-based logistics company over intellectual property right (IPR).

Following the Gurgaon court verdict, RoadRunnr had rebranded as Runnr (now owned by Zomato) in March 2016.

Around the same time, Bengaluru-based Houzify had alleged that Facebook took down its page without warning after US-based Houzz complained about trademark infringement.

Houzz had served a legal notice on Mohandas Pai-backed Houzify, claiming that the Indian company was infringing on its trademark.

The development was reported by Mint.