The Short Answer
If someone copies your logo in India, document the copying, check your trademark status, and speak to an IP lawyer. A registered trademark lets you sue for infringement; an unregistered one can still be protected through passing off. Most cases end with a cease-and-desist notice or a platform takedown, and only some reach court.
Step 1: Document Everything
Evidence decides these disputes, so collect it before the copier knows you have noticed. Save dated screenshots and URLs, photograph physical products and signage, make a test purchase and keep the invoice, and record every instance of a customer confusing the two businesses. Actual confusion is the most persuasive evidence there is.
- Screenshots with visible dates, URLs and seller names.
- Photographs of products, packaging, shopfronts or vehicles.
- Test purchase invoices and the products themselves.
- Messages, reviews or calls from customers who confused you.
- Your own evidence of first use: launch dates, old invoices, early packaging, design files.
Step 2: Check What Protection You Have
Your options depend on what you own. A registered trademark gives the strongest and simplest route. A pending application helps on many platforms. With no registration, you rely on passing off, which protects goodwill. Original artwork may also be protected by copyright, which arises automatically when a human creates it.
| What you have | Main legal route | What you must prove |
|---|---|---|
| Registered trademark | Infringement under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 | Your registration and the similarity of the other mark for similar goods or services |
| Unregistered mark with reputation | Passing off | Goodwill, misrepresentation likely to confuse, and damage |
| Original logo artwork | Copyright infringement | Your authorship and copying of a substantial part |
| Distinctive packaging | Passing off for trade dress, plus registered design if filed | That the overall get-up identifies you |
Copyright needs a human author. If your logo was generated by AI, that route may be weaker; see can you copyright an AI-generated logo.
Step 3: Decide Whether It Is Copying or Coincidence
Before acting, be honest about whether the marks really conflict. Courts look at the overall impression on an ordinary customer with imperfect memory, the similarity of goods and trade channels, and the strength of your mark. Two businesses using the same common symbol, such as a leaf or a globe, may simply both have chosen a generic idea.
If your own mark is generic, enforcement is harder, because nobody can own a common symbol. That is one more reason distinctive design pays off; see trademark objections for generic names.
Step 4: Send a Cease-and-Desist Notice
A lawyer's notice is usually the first formal step, and many disputes end there. It identifies your rights, describes the infringement, demands that use stops within a set period, and asks for undertakings such as withdrawing stock. Notices sent without evidence or with exaggerated claims can backfire, so have one drafted professionally.
Two points to keep in mind:
- Groundless threats of infringement proceedings can themselves be challenged under Section 142 of the Trade Marks Act, so do not overstate your rights.
- If the copier ignores the notice, as happened in several reported Delhi High Court cases, that history helps when you later seek an injunction.
Step 5: Use Platform Takedowns
For online copying, platform complaint processes are often the fastest remedy. Amazon, Flipkart, Meta and Google all accept intellectual property complaints, and they act most reliably for registered trademarks. Amazon Brand Registry adds proactive tools for trademark owners. Keep records of each complaint and response.
Lookalike websites and domains are a related problem with their own process; see brand impersonation and cloned websites.
Step 6: Go to Court if Needed
Where the copying is serious and continues, a suit for infringement or passing off can seek an injunction, damages or an account of profits, and destruction of infringing goods. Commercial IP disputes are heard by commercial courts, and the Delhi High Court has a dedicated IP Division. Interim injunctions can arrive quickly when the evidence is strong.
Indian courts take packaging and trade dress seriously. In 2026, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court decided Dabur India v. Emami, in which Emami alleged that Dabur's Cool King oil packaging copied the trade dress of Navratna. Earlier, in 2025, the same court restrained a publisher over the trade dress of compact bare-act editions.
Prevent It Next Time
Register your word mark and logo in every class you trade in, keep dated records of your design development, and build an identity distinctive enough that copying is obvious. Our trademark and availability checklist is a good starting point.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Consult an IP lawyer for your situation.
Where We Fit
Kalex designs distinctive identities and keeps dated design records that support your trademark filings. See our brand identity service or get in touch.