Skechers takes Indian footwear brand to court

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jul 24, 2019

Indian footwear brand Fine Footwear’s appeal to India's Bengaluru High Court over the case against it by Skechers has been dismissed. The U.S. footwear brand Skechers had taken Fine Footwear to court over its packaging. 

The Bengaluru High Court has dismissed M/S Fine Footwear Private Limited’s request to dismiss the temporary injunction granted against it by a Bengaluru civil court in response to a complaint made there by Skechers.

Skechers had alleged that Fine Footwear has copied its packaging design for its footwear and, upon taking the case to a Bengaluru civil court, the court granted a temporary injunction against Fine Footwear. Fine Footwear then contested this ruling at the high court but the high court dismissed the business’ contention, the Bangalore Mirror Bureau reported.

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The Bengaluru High Court heard Fine Footwear’s plea that the case should be heard by an Economic Court, not a civil court. The court responded that the case could indeed be heard by a civil court. 

“Product packaging or the look of a product has nowadays become just as essential as the product itself,” said the high court statement on the case.

“A trade dress ordinarily is the visual appearance of a product or its packaging which forms an important component as the source of the product itself.”  

“This makes it clear that trade dress is included within the definition of a trademark and consequently it is protected in the same manner as an unregistered trademark,” said Justice Krishna S Dixit at the hearing. This ruling is a landmark case for packaging in the Indian fashion industry.