‘Gold’ has indelible association with ITC’s cigarettes: Delhi HC protects company’s 100+ year old trademark
The Delhi High Court first granted an interim injunction in ITC's favour and against the infringing companies, including Pelican Tobacco Co Ltd, in an order issued in March 2024.
3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Nov 25, 2025 01:24 PM IST
ITC had also argued before the court that “cigarettes are not always sold in packs, but as loose sticks and the minuscule branding thereon is identical. (File)
The Delhi High Court Monday stepped in to protect the trademark of ITC Limited’s flagship cigarette product, Gold Flake, after the company accused a local brand of passing off cigarettes labelled as ‘Gold Fighter’ and ‘Gold Flame’ in a font, colour scheme, logo and packing similar to that of ITC’s.
The high court held that the “use of the word ‘GOLD’ has become indelibly associated” with ITC’s product, acquiring a “secondary meaning within the cigarette industry.” ITC has held the trademark of ‘Gold Flake’ since 1910.
The court had first granted an interim injunction in favour of ITC and against the infringing companies, including Pelican Tobacco Co Ltd, in an order in March 2024.
On Monday, Justice Tejas Karia held that the trademarks are “deceptively similar” with the “purpose of causing confusion in the mind of the customers to generate sales of the Infringing Products riding upon (ITC’s) goodwill…”
ITC had argued that the defendants have “replicated all essential features” of the ‘Gold Flake’ mark and label and the minor variation, substituting ‘K’ with ‘M’ to form ‘GOLD FLAME’ from ‘GOLD FLAKE’, “is a superficial change that does nothing to dispel confusion or deception.”
It had further accused the infringing companies’ adoption of the mark as “not innocuous but a deliberate act to ride upon the goodwill and reputation” of ITC’s marks “to create an injurious association in the minds of consumers that the infringing products are related to (ITC’s) products.”
ITC had also argued before the court that “cigarettes are not always sold in packs, but as loose sticks and the minuscule branding thereon is identical.” “A retailer might take advantage of this close similarity to sell the Infringing Products as opposed to the genuine cigarette to reap higher profits,” leading to initial interest confusion, ITC had submitted.
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On the other hand, the defendants had submitted that ITC is more than seven years late in filing the infringement suit, as ITC had been aware of Pelican’s products since 2017, when ITC had objected to Pelican’s trademark filing with respect to ‘Gold Flame’. It also accused ITC of attempting to “proclaim monopoly over common descriptive marks and elements common to tobacco, cigarette, etc.”
The defendants had also argued that “buyers in the tobacco market purchase cigarettes by name, minimising the possibility of confusion” and that frequent buyers are “reasonably well-informed”.
Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court
Professional Profile
Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express.
Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare).
Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others.
She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020.
With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles:
High-Profile Case Coverage
She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy.
Signature Style
Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system.
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