Mumbai: The Delhi High Court has granted interim relief to Devans Modern Breweries in a trademark infringement dispute, restraining Cartel Bros from using the “Godfather” brand name for its whisky products until further orders.
The order was passed by Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, who held that Devans Modern Breweries had established a prima facie case warranting protection of its trademark rights pending final adjudication of the matter.
As part of the interim injunction, the court prohibited Cartel Bros and its representatives from manufacturing, bottling, advertising, marketing, selling, exporting, or otherwise dealing in whisky products under the trademarks “Godfather”, “Godfather’s”, or any deceptively similar mark, packaging, label, trade dress, or branding.
The court also directed the company to remove advertisements, promotional content, social media posts, listings, and other marketing material carrying the disputed branding across all platforms.
The dispute arose after Devans Modern Breweries, owner of the long-established Godfather beer brand, approached the court claiming exclusive rights over the trademark. The company argued that it has used the Godfather mark since 1984 and holds trademark registrations covering beer as well as other alcoholic beverage categories, including whisky and rum.
According to the plaintiff, decades of commercial use have helped the brand acquire significant goodwill and consumer recognition, making it strongly associated with its products in the marketplace. Devans contended that the use of an identical mark for whisky by Cartel Bros could lead to consumer confusion and dilute the distinctiveness of its trademark.
Cartel Bros, a company backed by actor Sanjay Dutt, opposed the plea and informed the court that it had revised its branding to use the expression “The Glenwalk Godfather’s by Sanjay Dutt” rather than the standalone “Godfather” mark. The company also offered to withdraw its trademark application for the standalone version if allowed to continue using the modified branding.
The defendant further argued that Devans had not undertaken substantial commercial exploitation of the Godfather trademark in the whisky segment in recent years and therefore could not claim exclusive rights over the category.
However, after considering the submissions, the High Court observed that failure to grant interim protection could cause irreparable harm to the plaintiff’s trademark rights and reputation. The court consequently granted an interim injunction in favour of Devans Modern Breweries while the trademark infringement suit proceeds.
The ruling underscores the increasing importance of intellectual property protection in India’s alcoholic beverages market, where established brands are aggressively defending trademark rights as companies expand into adjacent product categories.
