Delhi High Court stays ₹340-crore damages order against Amazon in trademark case

Mint

18 hours ago

The Delhi High Court has delivered Amazon Technologies, a subsidiary of global e-commerce giant Amazon Inc., a major reprieve in a trademark infringement case against it.
On Tuesday, a division bench of the high court stayed a single-judge order that had directed the company to pay nearly ₹ 340 crore ($39 million) in damages to Lifestyle Equities for trademark infringement involving the Beverly Hills Polo Club brand.
The bench of justices Hari Shankar and Ajay Digpaul granted the interim stay without requiring Amazon to make a pre-deposit. However, Amazon has been asked to undertake that it will pay the damages if the final decision goes against it. The court clarified that the stay order would not influence the outcome of the appeal.
The dispute began in 2020, when Lifestyle Equities a UK company that owns and manages the Beverly Hills Polo brand filed a trademark infringement suit against Amazon Technologies and others, alleging unauthorised use of a deceptively similar mark on apparel and other products sold on Amazon platforms.
The company claimed the infringing trademark appeared on apparel manufactured and sold by Amazon Technologies under its Symbol brand, and that Cloudtail India, a major seller on Amazon.in, was also involved in the sales.
In October 2020 the high court issued an interim injunction restraining Amazon and Cloudtail from using the mark and ordered that the infringing listings be removed. Amazon Technologies failed to appear at the proceedings and was eventually proceeded against ex-parte.
Meanwhile, Cloudtail India admitted it had sold infringing products between 2015 and July 2020, earning total sales of ₹ 23.9 lakh with a profit margin around 20%. While Cloudtail offered to settle, mediation attempts failed, leading the court to pass a decree against Cloudtail and awarding ₹ 4.78 lakh in damages to Lifestyle Equities.
In its final judgement on 25 February 2025, the single-judge bench held Amazon liable for about ₹ 340 crore in total damages and costs, saying that its close commercial relationship with Cloudtail made it directly responsible for the infringement.
The court examined the Amazon-Cloudtail brand license and distribution agreement, noting that it granted Cloudtail extensive rights to use Amazon's trademarks and branding, undermining Amazon's defence of being a mere intermediary.
The court awarded $5 million for Lifestyle's additional advertising and promotional expenses incurred to protect its brand reputation, and $33.78 million in compensatory damages for lost royalties, bringing the total to $38.78 million (around ₹ 336 crore) plus litigation costs.
This single-judge order was considered a landmark ruling by experts because it established that e-commerce platforms such as Amazon could be held directly liable for trademark infringement by sellers on their platforms. Platforms have traditionally claimed they are mere intermediaries, but the court held that Amazon's agreements and control over sellers made it accountable.