Friday, March 29

Girnar Food Drags Big Basket to Court Over Trademark Violation

Grocery Startup Big Basket has been dragged to court over trademark violations claimed by Mumbai-based tea maker Girnar Food and Beverages Pvt Ltd.

Girnar food has approached the court against two registered operating agencies – SuperMarket Grocery Supplies Pvt. Ltd, the B2B business entity that sources products and sells it to Innovative Retail, which runs the online grocery portal.

The Teamaker has alleged that Big basket has infringed its ‘Royal’ trademark for selling various products including tea.

According to sources , BigBasket is selling several products under the Royal brand, which includes grains, spices, honey and sugar. But Girnar has raised an objection to the e-commerce start-up selling tea under the Royal brand.

Reportedly, Girnar had approached the court on 7 March and the matter is due to be heard on 18 June. While Big Basket has declined to comment on the development, Pixr8’s email query sent to Girnar Food and Beverages did not elicit a response.

The online grocery marketplace is considered one of the potential names to take e-commerce to a new dimension. It had raised $300 million in February in a series E round led by Alibaba Group Holding and another clutch of investors like Sands Capital, International Finance Corp and Abraaj.