Casio sues Snapdeal over fake goods

Chennai: Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer Casio has sued Snapdeal for allegedly selling fake products under its brand name. A district court of New Delhi has granted ad-interim ex-parte injunction order against online e-commerce company from selling, displaying and advertising goods of the Japanese electronics giant.

Due to the rampant increase in consumer complaints received by Casio regarding sale of counterfeit watches and calculators branded as Casio on Snapdeal, Casio had initiated the legal action against the website, the company said.  

“Casio is extremely sensitive towards protection of its Intellectual Property Rights and has been actively fighting against the counterfeiting menace in India. As a part of its anti-counterfeiting strategy and in an endeavour to ensure that its customers are not cheated with fakes, Casio has been fighting the unscrupulous traders in the local markets in India and has now extended its battle versus the fakes on the internet,” Satoshi Yamazaki, General Mana-ger at Legal Department of Casio Computer said.

Snapdeal said that it will approach the court for review and modification of the order. “In multiple recent cases, broad and sweeping injunctions granted against various marketplaces have, on review, been limited in scope to individual sellers, who may be in breach. A distinction between platforms and sellers is an important one to ensure that genuine sellers are not adversely affected due to actions of a few,” Snapdeal spokesperson said.  

Snapdeal requires all sellers listed on its platform to sell only genuine products. Sellers found in breach face action as per contractual terms, including being barred from future access to the platform, it said.

The company said that it also operates a robust anti-counterfeiting programme that offers a simple and online process for brands to report any violation of their intellectual property rights.

Last year, Flipkart had made an out-of-court settlement with Skechers after the footwear brand petitioned the Delhi High Court against Flipkart for selling counterfeit goods.