The Federal Court of Canada ruled in favor of Amul, a famous homegrown dairy brand from India, in a trademark and copyright infringement case in the North American country.

The victory marked Amul’s first win in a trademark infringement case outside India. It was also the dairy company’s first time to file such case against a company in another country.

The Court also awarded Amul, the eighth largest milk processor in the world, with damages in the amount of CAD32,733 (US$26,049).

The Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited and the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets the Amul brand, filed a case against Amul Canada after discovering in January 2020 that the latter copied the “Amul” trademark and logo of “Amul – The Taste of India.”

The trademark and logo were used in a fake LinkedIn page of Amul Canada.

According to Amul’s counsels, Amul Canada and its four employees included in the suit, are neither licensed nor allowed to use the former’s trademark and logo.

The four employees, namely Mohit Rana, Akash Ghosh, Chandu Das and a certain Patel, created the fake LinkedIn profile.

“Amul is considered as the pride of India. Its journey from a cooperative movement to becoming a well-known global brand began decades ago. It is no surprise then that Amul’s tagline is also ‘The Taste of India’ and hence, people associate Amul as being a national brand. Its little girl mascot has immensely added to the brand’s reputation with all the quirky topical commercials having social and political overtones,” said Safir Anand, senior partner and head of trademarks, contractual & commercial IP at Anand & Anand in Noida.

GCMMF has been exporting the flavoured milk Amul Kool, ice cream and dairy snacks to Canada for the past two years. Amul products are also being exported to the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, among others.

“Hence, it is not a surprise when violators tend to piggyback upon this repute/goodwill and it is very likely that there may be many more battles for such well-known brands like Amul to fight,” Anand added. “Thus, the increased globalization of trade has made the protection of famous and well-known marks even more crucial.”