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The ecommerce brands have to face a lot of trouble especially due to the omission of third parties. The latest being on Snapdeal facing trouble with Mumbai based Century Textiles and Industry Private Limited(BK Birla Group).

The issue is regarding Dhotis or traditional men’s garment which has been listed by Snapdeal on their website and is being sold by Modicare under the name of “Paramsukh”. The Century Textiles have alleged that “Paramkush” is their registered trademark since 1942. The Snapdeal has also been accused of listing this product even after knowing that it is a duplicate and copy of a registered trademark.

However, the Snapdeal has removed this product from their website as per their guidelines. It would be interesting to see whether the Bombay High Court would go ahead considering that the product has been removed.

They are two types of legal actions which are available in case of trademark- Passing off and Infringement. The remedy of passing off is available for those unregistered trademarks which have been in use for a long time and have established their name in the market. However, the plaintiff must prove that there was an intention on part of the defendant to deceive customers into believing that they are buying products of the plaintiff. The intention is very important to prove the case of passing off. Another remedy is of trademark infringement. One just needs to have a registered trademark to use this remedy and there is no need to intention on the part of defendant.

It would be interesting to see the outcome of this case as here both Modicare and Snapdeal has been made a party.

It is not new to see legal trouble faced by startups when it comes to trademark infringements, it is highly important for startups to get their trademark registered before they start dealing with customers.