HC directs Batra Breweries not to use product names similar to Allied Blenders
This story was originally published at 17:10 IST on 4 February 2026
Register to read our real-time news.Informist, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026
NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court Wednesday restrained Batra Breweries and Distilleries Pvt. Ltd. and others from selling, manufacturing, or otherwise using names for their products similar to Allied Blenders and Distillers Ltd.'s trademarks "Officer's Choice", "Officer's Choice Blue" and "Choice". Undoubtedly irreparable harm and injury would be caused to Allied Blenders in case Batra Breweries and others were not restrained from using its mark "Principal Choice Whisky", the court said.
Allied Blenders has been a continuous user of the mark "Officer's Choice" since 1988 with almost 160 trademark registrations of various marks and labels and their variants, the court said. Not only is the word "Choice" part of Allied Blenders' registered trademark but the entire trade dress of the label of the Batra Breweries mark is strikingly similar to that of the plaintiff's trademark and trade dress, it said, adding that this cannot be said to be an honest adoption.
The petitioner is the owner of the trademark "Officer's Choice", which was coined and adopted in 1988 by its predecessor. The "Officer's Choice" mark has been used in various label forms and variants for different alcohol products of the company, the petitioner said. It claimed that the products sold under the name "Officer's Choice" were extremely popular and it was rated the highest selling whisky in the world.
The defendants manufacture, sell, and offer for sale alcoholic products under the mark "Principal Choice" and "Principal Choice Premium Whisky". The products are blended and bottled by Batra Breweries and Distilleries, which is also the bottler for Allied Blenders. The infringing product is marketed by Jaswant Industries, Jalandhar, Punjab, the petitioner said.
Wednesday, shares of Allied Blenders and Distillers ended 0.3% higher at INR 511 on the National Stock Exchange. End
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Rajeev Pai
For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.
Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.
Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000
Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com
© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.
To read more please subscribe
Share this Story:
