Delhi High Court Rules Amazon Must Compensate ₹340 Crore to Lifestyle Equities for Trademark Violation – CNBC TV18

The Delhi High Court has ordered Amazon to pay $39 million (around ₹340 crore) to Lifestyle Equities for violating its ‘Beverly Hills Polo Club’ trademark. Justice Prathiba M Singh oversaw the case, and a detailed copy of the order is expected soon.

This legal battle began when Lifestyle Equities filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Amazon Technologies and others in 2020. They claimed that Amazon was selling products with a logo similar to theirs on its platforms.

Specifically, Amazon Technologies was found to be manufacturing and selling items under the brand “Symbol,” which included the contested logo. Cloudtail India, a seller on Amazon’s marketplace, was also implicated for distributing these products.

In October 2020, the court issued an interim injunction, barring Amazon and others from using the infringing logo. They also directed Amazon Seller Services to remove the questionable products. However, Amazon Technologies did not appear in court, leading to a default judgment against them.

Later, in 2023, Cloudtail admitted to liability and sought a settlement covering damages for selling items with the infringing mark from 2015 until mid-2020. During that period, they generated ₹23,92,420 in revenue, with a profit margin exceeding 20%.

Cloudtail’s legal team argued that they should be solely responsible for the damages, based on an agreement with Amazon. However, Lifestyle Equities countered that the infringing mark was not part of that agreement, asserting that both Amazon and Cloudtail should share the blame.

The court recognized Cloudtail’s acceptance of responsibility but emphasized that Lifestyle Equities shouldn’t be prohibited from pursuing damages from Amazon as well. Ultimately, they awarded ₹4,78,484 in damages against Cloudtail, reflecting 20% of the revenue from the infringing products, based on undisputed sales data.

Amazon Seller Services was removed from the case since no claims were made against them, but they agreed to stop listing any future products that violate the trademark.



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Delhi High Court, Trademark Infringement, Amazon, Delhi High Court