Delhi High Court Holds: The ‘890’ Barcode & Trademark Belongs to GSI, Restrains Defendant from Issuing 13-Digit Codes Starting With ‘890’

On 12^th January 2021, in the case of GSI India v. Global Barcodes SL & Ors.,^[1]. The Delhi High Court issued a permanent injunction restraining the Defendants from using or issuing 13-digit barcode numbers starting with “890” or any other deceptively similar marks to avoid the mistaken impression as to compliance with GSI standards.

Background

The Plaintiff is a society that holds a license from the international body GSI which was set up by various countries to maintain global standards and a database of the barcodes issued in compliance of its standards. GSI India is the only licensed body in India and has been allocated the code ‘890’ to be used in conjunction with 10 other digits. These barcodes are granted to businesses, especially manufacturers, who wish for their products to be GSI compliant. These businesses are granted GSI certifications and the Plaintiff allocates the 13-digit barcode, which is then entered onto the database of the global page of GSI thereby giving it a uniqueness and ensuring uniformity in standards. 

The Plaintiff claimed that the Defendants were operating websites through which they allocated barcode numbers starting with ‘890’ and that these did not originate from the Plaintiff and thus, were being granted without any compliance with GSI standards. The Plaintiff also claimed trademark infringement as a result of their trademark registration with a pictorial design and the numeric elements ‘890’ therein. The Plaintiff alleged that the actions of the Defendants caused deception to customers and the public at large and showed on record complaints from customers who claimed that they had been issued fake and illegal barcodes thinking that they had been issued by the Plaintiff.

The Decision

The Court granted an ex-parte permanent injunction restraining the Defendants from using or allocating 13-digit barcode numbers starting with ‘890’. In addition, the Court also ordered an award of damages amounting to Rs. 20 lakhs in favour of the Plaintiff. The court observed, “It is manifest that the Defendant No. 2 who is supposed to be an entity based outside the country is bent on carrying on its illegal activities by mischievously and falsely allocating bar codes starting from ‘890’ illegally to innocent third parties.” Further, the Court also ordered the Defendants to suspend and block the impugned domain names of the websites through which they were engaged in the impugned activities.

Comments

GSI certification plays many important roles. It not only assures consumers that the barcodes starting with ‘890’ are compliant with GSI standards, it also provides the details of the allottee on the online database, which is readily available for anyone to view. This helps to trace the identity of the sellers and ensures a system of accountability as well.

To conclude, this case involves a unique system of barcodes and the grant of barcodes to signify compliance with international standards. Such certifications form part of the brand image for many manufacturers and so the Court seems to have taken a firm stand against the Defendants in order to ensure protection for customers and the public at large who should be able to trust a brand as a result of its GSI certification.  Thus, this Order safeguards the interests of consumers, manufacturers/brand-owners, retailers and e-retailers who have collaboratively invested in the GSI system of standards and identification. ^[2]