Bisleri not to take follow-up action on Coke case

Unperturbed by the twist in the Maaza trademark infringement case, packaged mineral water company Bisleri International has decided to not take any follow-up action before the infringement case hearing on March 2, 2009.

The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) had filed a case for permanent and other interim injunctions in the Delhi High Court against Bisleri International Private Limited.

The suit seeks various injunctive reliefs from the court to restrain Bisleri from infringing the rights of TCCC in the trademark Maaza in India as well to restrain it from disclosing the know-how, formulations and other intellectual property  used to manufacture Maaza.

According to a Coca-Cola spokesperson, TCCC has obtained a preliminary order from the High Court restraining Bisleri International from using the Maaza trademark in India.

“The suit is meaningless and we want to sort this issue soon. We will only follow the regular court procedure for the March hearing. The issue is not about the domestic market, but about using the brand name Maaza outside India,” Ramesh Chauhan, Chairman and Managing Director, Bisleri, and creator of the Mazaa brand told Business Standard.

In April this year, Chauhan had demanded Rs 20 crore as compensation from the cola giant for allegedly breaching an agreement preventing the latter from registering the trademark in countries other than India.

Chauhan said that if Bisleri did not receive the compensation, legal action would be taken against Coca-Cola for violating the contract and the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement. Bisleri, had said that it would contemplate legal action against Coca-Cola India, if the latter did not agree to its objection over the registration of the Mazaa trademark in other countries.

“We still are awaiting a response to the legal notice we sent Coca-Cola seeking compensation. On the contrary, it was Coca-Cola, who had to withdraw its application for registering Maaza trademark in Turkey and the Benelux countries since we retain the IPR for using the brand name outside India,” Chauhan said.