Court strikes down John Distilleries’ ‘Original Choice’ mark, upholds ABD’s ‘Officer’s Choice’, overturning a 2013 IPAB ruling
Allied Blenders and Distillers (ABD), the maker of Officer’s Choice whisky, has secured a major legal win after the Madras High Court ruled in its favour in a long-running trademark battle with John Distilleries (JDL). The court dismissed JDL’s plea to cancel ABD’s ‘Officer’s Choice’ trademark and simultaneously approved ABD’s request to remove JDL’s ‘Original Choice’ mark from the register.
A Division Bench of Justice G Jayachandran and Justice Mummineni Sudheer Kumar held that ‘Original Choice’ was deceptively similar to ‘Officer’s Choice’, finding that JDL’s registration violated provisions of the Trade Marks Act, 1999. The judges said the now-defunct Intellectual Property Appellate Board had erred in 2013 by analysing only the words in the competing marks rather than evaluating the labels in their entirety.
Given the prolonged pendency of the case and the dissolution of the IPAB in 2021, the Bench chose to decide the matter directly instead of sending it back for reconsideration.
The court first examined JDL’s claim that ABD’s 1990 application for ‘Officer’s Choice’ was invalid. It found no fraud, noting that ABD’s filings were backed by the appropriate board resolutions and assignment documents. The mark had originally been adopted by Cruickshank and Co., before being transferred to ABD’s predecessor, BDA Breweries & Distillers, through a deed of assignment approved by the Bombay High Court.
The judges rejected JDL’s argument that ‘Original Choice’ had co-existed without conflict alongside ‘Officer’s Choice’. Citing Sections 9(1)(a) and 9(2)(a) of the Trade Marks Act, the Bench stressed that a mark lacking distinctiveness or one that is likely to deceive the public cannot continue on the register. The court reiterated that trademark similarity must be assessed from the perspective of an average consumer with imperfect recollection, not via a side-by-side examination.
ABD said it welcomed the ruling, calling it a reaffirmation of its commitment to protecting brand equity and intellectual property.
Shares of Allied Blenders and Distillers ended marginally lower at Rs 640 on the NSE on Friday.
Separately, the company earlier this week reported a 35.4 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 64.3 crore for Q2FY26, supported by a 14 per cent increase in revenue to Rs 990 crore. Its premium portfolio continued to expand, with volumes in the Prestige and Above segment rising 8.4 per cent from a year earlier.
(With Input from Live Law)
