Here’s why Delhi High Court has barred Intex from selling Aqua phones

The Delhi High Court has asked Intex, India’s second largest handset maker, to stop selling its Aqua phones and accessories in the market.

The court barred Intex after a smaller rival Aqua Mobile filed a petition on trademark infringement.

Aqua Mobiles filed the case against Intex in 2013, claiming customer confusion on account of the use of an identical trademark by the rival, and had asked for an interim injunction.

Intex will appeal the order before a division bench of the high court.

"Defendants, their directors, officers, franchisees, agents, employees, servants, and/or any other person acting for and on their behalf are restrained from using the infringing trademark 'Aqua' or any other deceptively similar trademark in respect of mobile phones/cellular phones and their accessories, till the disposal of the suit," said Judge GS Sistani in his order.

Intex argued it had been selling Aqua trademarked phones in India since 2009 and had expanded into earphones, mobile chargers, USB cables and mobile batteries under the same brand.

But, Aqua Mobiles claimed Intex adopted an identical mark in 2012, to have a free ride on its goodwill.

Intex argued that the 'Aqua' mark was arbitrary, and was incapable of distinguishing the goods of Aqua Mobiles. Therefore, Aqua Mobiles was not entitled to trademark protection, it said.

The court rejected this argument.

This comes as a major setback to Intex which is trying to grapple with increasing competition.

Intex sold nearly 2 million Aqua phones, that made 90% of the company’s quarterly shipments.

As per IDC, Intex had fallen out of the top 5 smartphone players club in the quarter through September.