The Calcutta High Court has granted an ex-parte request restraining Parle Biscuits from selling and marketing their new biscuit product under the brand name 'Top Gold Star.' 

This decision comes as a major victory for SAJ Food Products, the manufacturer of the brand ‘Bisk Farm.’

Bisk Farm, which adopted the mark 'Top Gold' for one of its biscuit products in 2005, secured permitted protection through trademark and copyright registrations. 

As the sole entity registered for the mark 'Top Gold' with the trademark registry, SAJ Food Products recently noticed Parle Biscuits launching a product under the name 'Top Gold Star,' prompting legal action.

The court's order underscores that Bisk Farm is the prior and only registered user of the mark 'Top Gold' in Class 30, which covers biscuits. Parle's new product, 'Top Gold Star,' was deemed to infringe upon Bisk Farm's registered mark, with the terms 'Top' and 'Gold' prominently displayed, while 'Star' appeared in a smaller font. This similarity in branding was argued to be structurally, phonetically, and deceptively close to Bisk Farm's 'Top Gold' mark.

Bisk Farm contended that Parle's adoption of 'Top Gold Star' constituted a clear act of 'passing off' (a common law which occurs when a person sells their products as the goods of another, wherein the trademark owner can take legal action to remedy this violation), leading them to approach the Calcutta High Court for a restraining order.

On 19 July 2024, Justice Krishna Rao issued a stay order, restraining Parle from selling and marketing their product under the 'Top Gold Star' brand name until 27 August 2024.

The court's decision reinforces the importance of protecting intellectual property rights in the competitive FMCG sector, setting a precedent for similar disputes in the future.

Vijay Singh, managing director, Bisk Farm, said, “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. We are determined to protect our intellectual property rights and brand integrity which has been carefully built over two decades by our late founder KD Paul. We are thankful to the honourable court for issuing an ex-parte protective order against this action of trademark infringement by Parle.”