Trade-Dress Law in India

M P Ram Mohan and Pratishtha Agarwal

IIMA Working Papers from Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department

Abstract: The increased emphasis on visual presentation and brand experience has elevated trade-dress from a peripheral concern to a central feature of trademark protection. Indian trade-dress protection is currently spread across multiple intellectual property legal regime with special emphasis through the passing-off law under the trademarks Act 1999. Despite commercial importance of trade-dress law, and without explicit statutory definition of what constitutes trade-dress, its protection is shaped almost entirely through a patchwork of judicial interpretation across the Supreme Court and the High Courts. The present study undertakes a mapping and comparative analysis of trade-dress jurisprudence across the Supreme Court of India and four major High Courts; Delhi, Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. The analysis reveals a fragmented landscape highlighting divergent judicial approaches to distinctiveness, consumer perception, functionality and evidentiary thresholds, The present study further identifies persistent doctrinal tensions from the conflation of trade-dress with copyright and design law in the Indian context. The authors argue for a more disciplined and coherent framework for trade-dress protection in India.

Date: 2025-05-01
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