The Delhi High Court on Friday awarded interim relief in a trademark infringement suit to Bacardi and Company Ltd, for its alcoholic beverage called BREEZER by prohibiting the defendant-company Bahety Overseas Pvt Ltd from using the mark called FREEZMIX.

Bahety Overseas is a manufacturer of non-alcoholic beverages. It applied for the registration of the mark “FREEZ” in July 2015, but the application failed. In September 2020, Barcardi issued a cease-and-desist notice to Bahety Overseas for using the mark “FREEZ.” A cease-and-desist notice is generally issued by the intellectual property owner, calling upon the alleged infringer to cease the infringing conduct to avoid formal court action. Thereafter, Bahety Overseas successfully applied for the registration of the mark “FREEZMIX.” However, Bacardi filed an infringement suit against Bahety for using this trademark.

Justice Hari Shankar the high court ruled that Bacardi made out a prima facie case for grant of interlocutory injunction on the basis of infringement of its registered trademark. It observed that although the two marks are not similar visually, they are phonetically similar. It held that what is required is phonetic similarity and not phonetic identity. In addition, the court held that even though Bahety’s trademark if FREEZMIX, the suffix “mix” is in such small characters that it’s barely noticeable at first glance.

The court also held that Bahety Overseas consciously intended to establish a trademark that was so similar to Bacardi’s that “it would lead an uninformed and unwary customer to justifiably presume an association between the two marks.” The interim injunction will remain in force until the case is resolved.