Calcutta HC Halts Parle’s Sales of ‘TOP GOLD STAR’ Biscuit

SAJ Food Products, manufacturing biscuits, snacks and bakery products under the brand ‘BISK FARM’, has informed BSE that the Calcutta High Court has granted an ex-parte injunction restraining Parle Biscuits from selling and marketing its new biscuit product branded by it in the market as “TOP GOLD STAR”.

In the year 2005, Bisk Farm adopted the mark “TOP GOLD” for one of their biscuits and got statutory protection by way of trademark and copyright registrations. None except SAJ is registered and/or applied for the mark TOP GOLD before the Trademark Registry. Very recently it has come to notice that Parle has launched a new product in the same category under the name of “TOP GOLD STAR.”

Bisk Farm is the prior and only registered proprietor of the aforesaid mark in respect of goods falling in Class 30. Parle has malafidely adopted an identical device containing the mark “TOP GOLD STAR” wherein the terms ‘TOP’ and ‘GOLD’ are written in a larger font and the term STAR is written in a smaller font to pass off the same as Bisk Farm’s mark and in course of doing so infringed the registered mark of Bisk Farm “TOP GOLD” and thereby committed the tort of passing off and unfair. It is structurally, phonetically, and/or deceptively similar to the TOP GOLD mark of Bisk Farm and is used in relation to the identical goods, that is, biscuits. The company had contented that this is a clear act of passing off and had approached the Calcutta High Court for relief restraining Parle Biscuits from using the “TOP GOLD STAR” mark.

Whereupon the Hon’ble Justice Krishna Rao was pleased to pass a stay order dated 19.07.2024, restraining Parle from selling and marketing the product under the brand name “TOP GOLD STAR” upto 27.08.2024.

“We have a distinguished history of introducing distinct biscuits, each marked by its own unique identity, all of which have been well-received by consumers,” said Vijay Singh, managing director, Bisk Farm. We believe passionately in protecting the intellectual property rights and the integrity of the brand that our late founder, K.D. Paul, nurtured over two decades. We are thankful for the ex-parte protective order issued by the Hon’ble Court against this act of trademark infringement by Parle.