Mumbai: PepsiCo India has filed a trademark violation case against Mumbai-based beverages major Parle Agro over the use of the tagline- 'For The Bold' by the latter for the beverage B Fizz launched last year.

The US beverage and packaged food company moved the Delhi high court earlier this month claiming a trademark infringement with the multinational, arguing in its petition that ‘For The Bold’ was a registered trademark of its Doritos chips brand globally, which Parle Agro used for its ‘B-Fizz’ beverage.

PepsiCo pleaded with the court to restrain the Mumbai-based beverages company from "infringement, passing-off, dilution, and unfair trade competition". The court directed Parle Agro to file a written response in a month while fixing the next date of hearing on 16 July.

PepsiCo India has also sought Rs two crore in damages and a permanent injunction against the Frooti & Appy Fizz brands from using the cited tagline, alleging it would result in a “violation of the statutory and exclusive proprietary rights of the PepsiCo”. It has also sought an order for delivery of “destruction of all products including bottles, cans, packing material, stationery, carry bags, price stickers, visiting cards, billboards, brochures, promotional material, point of sale material, letterheads, cash memos, signboards, signposts, leaflets, cartons or any other items of whatsoever description and nature, bearing the expression/ tagline ‘For The Bold’”.

The maker of Frooti & Appy Fizz had launched the malt-based B-Fizz carbonated soft drink last October, in a fresh attempt to grab a larger market share in the fizzy beverages category. The fizzy drink is being promoted by Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Jr NTR in South Indian markets. Cans and bottles of the beverage come with taglines “Be the Fizz! For the Bold!” and “Positioned as a drink for the Bold, B-Fizz presents a unique, bold, and invigorating taste profile,” the company had stated at the time.

On the other hand, the New York-based giant has used “For The Bold’ as a tagline for its tortilla chips brand Doritos since 2013. According to PepsiCo, Doritos is a $1-billion-plus flagship brand that is one of the fastest-growing snack brands in the snacks and beverage major’s portfolio. In 2017, the company announced that it is producing Doritos in India at its snacks manufacturing facility in Kolkata.

Meanwhile, both the parties involved declined to comment on the matter saying the case was sub judice.