Sports Drink Makers Battle Over Rehydrate, Replenish, Recharge

29 October 2012

The Delhi High Court on May 31, 2010, dismissed on the interim application of Stokley Van Camp against Heinz India, according to Rahul Chaudhry, a partner at Lall Lahiri & Salhotra in Gurgaon. An intense battle regarding trademark infringement had been raging in the Delhi High Court between the makers of the sports drink Gatorade and a new version of Glucon-D known as Glucon-D Isotonik.

“The dispute between Stokley and Heinz India began with the launch of the energy drink Glucon-D Isotonik, which is a ready-to-drink sports beverage that promises to provide instant energy without losing electrolytes,” Chaudhry said. “The packaging of Glucon-D Isotonik used the words ‘Rehydrates Fluids, Replenishes Vital Salts and Recharges Glucose.’ Stokley took exception to the use of these words by Heinz claiming that the words have been lifted off from its own advertisements which use the words ‘Rehydrate, Replenish and Refuel.’”

The Court held that “the defendants, in the instant case, in my view, have been able to prima facie establish that the impugned mark is descriptive of the characteristics of its goods and that the impugned words/expressions are commonly used in the trade.”

On the question of whether the use of the impugned words amounted to passing off by creating confusion between the products, the court stated, “the cumulative effect of the trade dress and the get up of the plaintiff‘s packaging when compared with that of the defendant, leave no doubt in my mind that there is no likelihood of confusion as regards the origin of the defendant’s goods. Not only the colour and the trade dress is different, the trademark, under which the goods are sold, is prominently displayed on the defendant’s packing.”

The Court, also stated, with respect to the validity of the registration of the Plaintiffs that “in the instant case, similarly, in my opinion the registered mark/expression of the plaintiffs is prima facie suspect. The word(s) which form a part of the plaintiffs’ registered mark are an intrinsic part of the current language commonly used in trade. What is persuaded me to come to this conclusion is the plethora of material placed on record which at least prima facie seems to suggest that these words are commonly used to describe the character, quality and attributes of an Isotonic drink.”

Anuradha Salhotra, managing partner at Lall Lahiri & Salhotra advised Heinz; Pratibha M Singh was counsel for Stokely.

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