The Delhi High Court has passed an interim injunction order in favour of Kamdhenu in its trademark dispute with steel manufacturer Ashiana Ispat Limited (AIL) in a trademark dispute over the mark ‘AL KAMDHENU GOLD‘. The court restrained AIL from using “AL KAMDHENU GOLD” and similar marks and directed removal of such listings across platforms and held that the company had not established a prima facie case of prior use or independent goodwill in the mark.
The Court restrained AIL, along with its directors, dealers, officers, partners, distributors and all persons acting for or on its behalf, from manufacturing, marketing, distributing, advertising or selling, whether through physical markets or online platforms, any products bearing the mark “AL KAMDHENU GOLD” or any other mark incorporating the essential feature “KAMDHENU.”
In a single judge bench decision of Delhi High Court, Justice Tejas Karia held that any use of the mark ‘AL KAMDHENU GOLD’ by AIL during the subsistence of a 2002 licensee arrangement between the two parties would not independently enure to AIL’s benefit, since all goodwill generated under that arrangement would vest in Kamdhenu as licensor.
Examining the 1997, 2002, and 2021 agreements between the parties, the court held that all three explicitly stated that AIL and Kamdhenu were “totally unrelated parties” and “distinct and separate entities,” and that their relationship was “purely commercial and contractual.”
The bench rejected AIL’s argument that the common family management and joint contribution to the KAMDHENU brand conferred any independent rights upon AIL, observing that rights in trademarks, trade names and goodwill vest with corporate entities rather than individual directors.
On the 2002 Agreement, the court held that a plain reading indicated it was a licensor-licensee arrangement, not a trademark assignment. The court found that AIL’s right to become the exclusive and absolute owner of the ‘AL KAMDHENU GOLD’ mark was contingent on the registration of the mark in its favour, a condition that was never fulfilled.
The court further noted that any goodwill generated through AIL’s use of the ‘AL KAMDHENU GOLD’ mark during the subsistence of the 2002 Agreement would, by virtue of Section 48(2) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, enure to the benefit of Kamdhenu as licensor and not to AIL. Since AIL’s own advertisements carried a disclaimer that it did not hold independent rights over the mark, AIL could not appropriate such use as evidence of prior proprietary goodwill.
Finding in favour of Kamdhenu, the court held that the expression ‘KAMDHENU GOLD’ was admittedly coined by Kamdhenu and forms a registered mark in Kamdhenu’s favour. The addition of the prefix ‘AL’ did not, in the court’s prima facie assessment, alter the essential character of Kamdhenu’s registered mark.
“The Impugned Mark wholly incorporates Kamdhenu’s registered Mark ‘KAMDHENU GOLD’, with the addition of the prefix ‘AL’, which, prima facie, does not alter the essential character of the Mark ‘KAMDHENU GOLD’. The dominant and distinctive element of the Mark ‘KAMDHENU GOLD’ thus stands appropriated in its entirety,” the court noted.
Given that the goods in question — TMT steel bars used in construction and infrastructure — involved safety-critical applications, the court held that any defect in goods bearing the ‘AL KAMDHENU GOLD’ mark could reasonably be associated with Kamdhenu, causing irreparable harm to its reputation that could not be compensated monetarily.
Placing its reliance on Pernod Ricard India (P) Ltd. v. Karanveer Singh Chhabra 2025, the court found that the balance of convenience, risk of irreparable harm, and public interest considerations all weighed in favour of Kamdhenu.
The bench restrained AIL and its associates from using marks such as “KAMDHENU GOLD” and “KAMDHENU GOLD TMT,” whether as trademarks, trade names or domain names, particularly in relation to steel products including TMT bars, steel bars, MS pipes, bright steel bars, metal pipes and other allied goods and services.
The Court also directed AIL and all acting for or on its behalf to disable, remove or take down, block such listings of the products using the Impugned Mark ‘AL KAMDHENU GOLD’ from all platforms including, e-commerce websites, online and physical marketplaces, its own website and social media platforms.
