In a significant legal decision, an Indian court has mandated that a subsidiary of Amazon pay $39 million in damages for violating the trademark of the “Beverly Hills Polo Club” (BHPC) after apparel featuring a logo nearly identical to BHPC’s was sold on Amazon India’s platform. The ruling, issued on February 26, underscores the substantial financial repercussions faced by a U.S. corporation in a trademark conflict within India, as reported by Reuters. The lawsuit was initiated in 2020 by Lifestyle Equities, the proprietor of the BHPC trademark, which alleged that Amazon’s Indian platform was facilitating the sale of clothing items adorned with a logo that closely resembled its own, albeit at significantly lower prices. The court determined that the infringing brand was operated by Amazon Technologies and was marketed on the Amazon India website.
The Delhi High Court remarked that the logos in question were “hardly distinguishable,” referencing images of T-shirts that displayed both logos side by side in its comprehensive 85-page ruling. Additionally, the court noted that Amazon was fully cognizant of Lifestyle Equities’ exclusive rights to the BHPC logo, especially since the company had previously encountered legal challenges in various jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom. As part of its decision, the court issued a “permanent injunction” against Amazon, preventing any further infringement of the BHPC trademark, as reported by Reuters. This ruling follows a comparable legal dispute in London in 2019, where Lifestyle Equities accused Amazon of infringing upon the BHPC trademark. In 2023, Amazon faced a setback in the UK when it lost an appeal concerning its infringement of British trademarks via its U.S. website aimed at UK consumers. Moreover, a 2021 investigation by Reuters uncovered that Amazon had been involved in a systematic effort to produce counterfeit goods and manipulate search results to prioritize its own private labels in India.
