Red Bull AG (hereinafter ‘Red Bull’), a wholly owned subsidiary of Red Bull GmbH, is known across the globe for its energy drinks. Red Bull has gained immense popularity in India also. The brand is easily spotted in retail stores for a. its mark ‘RED BULL’, b. a logo depicting 2 bulls facing one another, c. a whole sun in the background, d. the can of the drink bearing blue and silver trapezoid, resulting in the mark looking like this:
. Each aspect described above is individually registered under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 in classes, inter alia, 30 and 32. The mark has also gained the status of a ‘well-known mark’ in India, listed here.
Red Bull filed a case [CS(COMM) 227/2021] against Bakewell Biscuits Private Limited (hereinafter referred to as ‘Bakewell’) at the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, on the grounds of trademark infringement and passing off.
Bakewell adopted a mark deceptively similar to
and merely replaced the bulls with horses resulting in the mark to look like: . Bakewell is allegedly selling ‘Energy candies’ under the above mark. Red Bull, in its plaint, also stated that it has ‘Opposed’ Bakewell’s trademark application bearing no. 4327842.
On observing the merits in the case, the Court on May 18, 2021, granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction against Bakewell retraining them from using the mark
or any other mark deceptively similar to Red Bull’s mark. In view of the restrictions issued due to the ongoing pandemic, the Court has currently not issued directions upon the application for Local Commissioner and has kept it pending for the time being.
