Indian Court Orders Amazon To Pay $39 Million For ‘Beverly Hills Polo Club’ Brand Infringement

Photo:bhpoloclub.com, Wikipedia

India-West News Desk

NEW DELHI – In a landmark ruling, an Indian court has ordered an Amazon subsidiary to pay $39 million in damages for infringing the “Beverly Hills Polo Club” (BHPC) trademark after apparel featuring a nearly identical logo was sold on Amazon India’s website. The February 26 court order highlights the significant financial penalty imposed on a U.S. company in a trademark dispute in India, Reuters reported.

The case was filed in 2020 by Lifestyle Equities, the owner of the BHPC trademark, which accused Amazon’s India platform of hosting listings for apparel bearing a logo strikingly similar to its own, but sold at a much lower price. According to the court, the infringing brand was operated by Amazon Technologies and marketed on Amazon India’s website.

The Delhi High Court noted that “the logo which has been used is hardly distinguishable,” referring to photos of T-shirts displaying the two logos side by side in its 85-page order. The court also observed that Amazon was fully aware of the exclusive rights of Lifestyle Equities over the BHPC logo, given that the company had faced litigation in multiple jurisdictions, including the UK. As part of the ruling, Amazon was issued a “permanent injunction,” prohibiting further infringement of the BHPC mark, Reuters added.

This case follows a similar legal battle in London in 2019, where Lifestyle Equities accused Amazon of infringing the BHPC trademark. In 2023, Amazon lost an appeal in the UK regarding its infringement of British trademarks through its U.S. website targeting UK consumers. Furthermore, a 2021 Reuters investigation revealed that Amazon had engaged in a systematic campaign of creating counterfeit products and manipulating search results to favor its own private labels in India.