Honasa Consumer Limited v. Cloud Wellness Private Limited & Anr.

In a recent decision, the Delhi High Court considered an application by Honasa Consumer Limited (“Plaintiff”), proprietor of The Derma Co., seeking an interim injunction against Cloud Wellness Private Limited and its Director (“Defendants”), who market skincare products under DERMATOUCH mark with similar trade dress.

The Plaintiff alleged copyright infringement and passing off, asserting that the Defendants had copied its distinctive two-tone packaging and overall trade dress used since 2020 for THE DERMA CO. branded products. It claimed that the Defendants’ use of similar orange-white, blue-white, and purple-white packaging was a slavish imitation intended to exploit the Plaintiff’s goodwill.

The Defendants contended that the Plaintiff’s trade dress lacked originality, being derived from earlier brands’ designs such as Hylamide (2015), and that dual-tone packaging is common across the skincare industry. They argued that their adoption was bona fide, their products prominently bore the DERMATOUCH mark, and both parties had coexisted for over four (4) years without evidence of confusion.

The court observed that consumers of dermatological products are ingredient-conscious and make purchasing decisions based on formulation and efficacy rather than packaging. It held that the marks, THE DERMA CO. and DERMATOUCH, were visually and phonetically distinct, and clearly displayed on the trade dresses, enabling consumers to distinguish between

the respective products. The court further observed that the Plaintiff had failed to establish distinctiveness or secondary meaning in the claimed trade dress.

Relying on Colgate Palmolive Co. v. Anchor Health and Beauty Care (P) Ltd., Kellogg Company v. Pravin Kumar Bhadabhai, and Himalaya Drug Co. v. SBL Ltd., the court reiterated that colour schemes alone cannot be monopolised without clear evidence of acquired distinctiveness.

Accordingly, finding no prima facie case or likelihood of confusion, the court refused to grant interim injunction and dismissed the application, permitting the Defendants to continue business pending trial.

Honasa Consumer Limited v. Cloud Wellness Private Limited & Anr. [CS(COMM) 483/2025] Read the judgement copy here.