The Delhi High Court has ordered Amazon’s India unit to pay Rs 339.25 crore (approximately $40.7 million USD) to luxury clothing brand Beverly Hills Polo Club, due to trademark infringement. The court found that Amazon’s own brand, ‘Amazon Technologies,’ had infringed on the distinctive Beverly Hills Polo Club logo.
The Beverly Hills Polo Club filed a lawsuit alleging that Amazon sold garments bearing an identical logo on its website at significantly reduced prices. Justice Prathiba M. Singh of the Delhi High Court stated that Amazon employed a strategy of ‘obfuscation,’ attempting to shift responsibility for the infringement. The court issued a ‘permanent injunction’,
The Beverly Hills Polo Club (BHPC) trademark features a charging polo pony, a symbol of luxury and premium lifestyle products. The brand’s plea stated that the mark is registered in 91 countries, including India, the U.S., U.K., and Germany. BHPC products were launched in India in 2002.
The luxury brand emphasized that the name, ‘Beverly Hills Polo Club,’ is inspired by Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, associating the brand with high-end fashion. The case was initiated in 2020 by Lifestyle Equities, the owner of the Beverly Hills Polo Club horse trademark. Amazon faced similar allegations in London by Lifestyle Equities in 2019. Last year, Amazon lost an appeal against a ruling that it had infringed UK trademarks by targeting British consumers on its US website.
