An Indian court on Wednesday ordered Amazon to pay $39 million in damages for trademark infringement by selling clothing with the same brand as the "Beverly Hills Polo Club" trademark on its Amazon India website.
Indian lawyers said the ruling was a milestone. Previously, an Indian antitrust investigation found that Amazon violated competition laws by giving preferential treatment to certain sellers on its Indian website, but Amazon denied the allegations.
The trademark case was filed in 2020 by Lifestyle Equities, the owner of the "Beverly Hills Polo Club" (BHPC) trademark, which accused Amazon's Indian shopping website of listing clothing with similar logos at a fraction of the price of the brand.
The infringing brand is owned by Amazon Technology and sold on Amazon's Indian website, the Delhi High Court said.
"The trademarks used are difficult to distinguish," the court noted in its 85-page judgment, which also included photos of T-shirts comparing the two trademarks.
