Can trademark infringement be established in cases where recycled bottles with the trademark of one party embossed on such bottles are used by the other party for the sale of their goods? This issue was discussed by the Delhi High Court in the recent case, Anheuser-Busch LLC v. Mr. Surjeet Lal and Anr. decided on March 14, 2022. In this case, the Defendants were using the bottles of the plaintiff bearing their trademark BUDWEISER embossed on such bottles after recycling and relabeling them with their own trademarks BLACK FORT and POWER COOL to sell their own beer. The Court such an act of the Defendant for the purpose of sale of their own products was likely to cause confusion as to its source among the consumers, resulting in the Defendant’s products likely to be confused as that of the Plaintiff’s. The Court held that all the Plaintiff’s registered trade mark ‘BUDWEISER’ was being used by the Defendants who were not its registered proprietor and were also not entitled to permissive use in relation to their own beer. Such use would cause irreparable loss to the Plaintiff and dilution of its goodwill and reputation. Therefore, it was held that such sale resulted in infringement and passing off and the Court granted a permanent injunction in favour of the Plaintiff henceforth restraining them from using, manufacturing or selling their products under the mark ‘BUDWEISER', even in recycled bottles, or in any manner whatsoever, in respect of beer manufactured and sold by the Defendants.

Audio Source: An article published on the LKS website in October 2022
https://www.lakshmisri.com/insights/articles/recycle-with-care/

Author:  Pulkit Doger, Niharika Tiwari