Supreme Court clarifies Blenders Pride has no exclusive right over ‘Pride’: Law Expert

New Delhi, Aug 19 Advocate Ayush Jain, appearing before the Supreme Court in the Blenders Pride vs London Pride trademark dispute, on Tuesday hailed the apex court’s ruling as a landmark in Indian intellectual property law.

He said the judgment makes it clear that Pernod Ricard, the maker of Blenders Pride, cannot monopolise the word “Pride,” and the Court has upheld London Pride’s independent trademark identity.

Jain described the verdict as a stern reminder that powerful corporations cannot stretch their trademark rights beyond the scope of registration.

“The Supreme Court has clearly stated that Blenders Pride as a whole is a registered trademark, but the company cannot claim monopoly over the word ‘Pride’. This ensures that generic words remain available for fair use in trade,” he said.

The dispute dates back to 2020 when Pernod Ricard, through its Indian subsidiary, filed a civil suit before the Indore Commercial Court alleging that JK Enterprises’ whisky brand London Pride infringed its registered trademark Blenders Pride.

The company argued that the prominent use of the word “Pride” in *London Pride* created a likelihood of confusion among consumers.

It further claimed similarities in packaging, colour scheme, and labelling, and sought a permanent injunction against the use of the brand name, destruction of alleged infringing material, and damages of Rs 1 crore.

The Indore Commercial Court dismissed the injunction plea, observing that Blenders Pride and London Pride were distinct trademarks.

It ruled that mere use of the common word “Pride” did not constitute infringement, particularly since both brands differed in pricing, taste, quality, and target consumers.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court upheld this decision in November 2023. Unwilling to accept defeat, Pernod Ricard escalated the matter to the Supreme Court.

After nearly 18 months of arguments led by senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Neeraj Kishan Kaul for Pernod Ricard, and Shyam Divan and Abhimanyu Bhandari for London Pride, a bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan reserved its order in February 2025.

Last week, the Court delivered a 97-page judgment dismissing Pernod Ricard’s appeal.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court emphasised that trademark protection applies to the registered mark as a whole and not to an unregistered word within it.

The bench clarified that “Pride” is a generic, publicly used term in the liquor industry and cannot be exclusively appropriated without separate registration.

The Court also examined both brands’ packaging, bottle shape, labelling, and colour schemes, and concluded that they were sufficiently different to prevent consumer confusion.

This is not the first time Pernod Ricard has faced disappointment in such cases. In September 2023, the Supreme Court had refused to grant relief in its infringement suit against United Spirits’ Royal Challenge American Pride whisky.

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