The Madras High Court recently issued a restraining order against ITC, preventing the sale of its 'Sunfeast Mom's Magic Butter Biscuits' in blue wrappers. The court deemed the packaging "deceptively" similar to Britannia Industries' 'Good Day Butter Cookies,' raising concerns of potential confusion among consumers.
Britannia Industries had accused ITC of selling similar products under the 'SUNFEAST' brand, using the trademark 'Mom's Magic' with an intention to capitalize on Britannia's goodwill.
In March 2023, ITC allegedly adopted an identical blue color trade dress for its products, a move that Britannia argued would lead to confusion on store shelves. The court directed ITC to change the color of the wrappers but allowed the company to sell existing stock in blue wrappers.
Britannia's lawsuit had sought permanent injunction, delivery of offending materials, accounting of profits, and damages amounting to Rs. 65,00,000, alleging trademark infringement, passing off, copyright violation, dilution of goodwill, and unfair competition by ITC.
ITC argued that there were noticeable differences in the packaging used by ITC and Britannia, pointing to distinctions in elements like the depiction of dollops of butter, images of the biscuit and cookie, the font style, and other aspects.
However, the division bench of the court found this explanation insufficient, particularly in explaining the abrupt shift from red to blue packaging by ITC.
The court maintained that a casual glance at both the Sunfeast and Good Day packets revealed a striking similarity, emphasizing the visual resemblance between the two, despite the highlighted differences.
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