Not A Sweet Surprise

The get-up, packaging, representation of a product plays a key role in the marketing and sale of the product. An inherently distinctive packaging style or a packaging which has acquired distinctiveness by virtue of its continuous use is also capable of being protecting under the Indian Trade Marks law. In the recent case of Ferrero Spa & Anr vs Piyush Devangan & Anr at the centre of the controversy was the identical packaging of chocolates by an Indian proprietor.

Ferrero Rochers are popular chocolates which are sold in a rectangular box with soft edges as corners, this box has 16 chocolates divided into two rows. The chocolates are wrapped in a golden wrapper with a white sticker on each of these chocolates' wrapper, the round chocolates are then places on flute brown colored cupcake shaped wrappers. It was the case of Ferrero Rochers that the Defendants (Piyush Devangan & Anr.) were selling their chocolates under the brand 'D-lizie' but with identical packaging