New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Monday dismissed US food and beverage company PepsiCo’s plea seeking an injunction in the trademark suit against Parle Agro regarding the use of “For the Bold” tagline for their newly launched beverage, B Fizz.
The court, however, restricted Parle Agro from altering the label of “Bold” and prohibited them from prominently using the tagline “Bold” in any advertising campaign for their beverage until the all the pleas in the case are disposed.
According to the court, Parle is also prohibited from using the “Bold” label in their campaigns, and any such advertisements must be immediately taken down and discontinued. PepsiCo can approach the court in case of non-compliance by Parle.
The court found Parle’s plea challenging PepsiCo’s trademark to be “tenable” and scheduled a 40-minute submission and hearing for October without any scope for any further adjournment.
In 2021, PepsiCo had filed a lawsuit against Parle for their new juice-based beverage called B Fizz, which carries the tagline “Be the Fizz. For the Bold.” This beverage was promoted by celebrities like Priyanka Chopra and is available in over 20,000 cities and towns in India.
PepsiCo had argued that “For the Bold” is a registered trademark for their Doritos nacho chips brand globally and sought ₹2 crore in compensation for alleged unfair trade practices by Parle Argo.
In 2017, PepsiCo began producing Doritos in India at its Kolkata plant. Doritos is a popular snack brand, worth billions of dollars in the US.
PepsiCo, known for brands like Lay’s, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, and Quaker, reported double-digit organic revenue growth in the first quarter of 2023.
Parle Argo, meanwhile, is also embroiled in a trademark case involving Intercontinental Great Brands, which owns the Oreo brand of biscuits. This case relates to vanilla cream-filled chocolate biscuits called Fabio/Fab!o and their alleged resemblance and deceptive similarity to Oreo biscuits.
In February, a single bench of the Delhi high court issued an interim injunction prohibiting Parle from selling Fabio Biscuits, noting that they had infringed on registered trademarks. Parle has challenged the order.
