Delhi High Court Injuncts Cawels Electric From Using 'CAWELS', Citing Similarity With Havells Trademark

The Delhi High Court has temporarily restrained Cawels Electric Private Limited, a Delhi-based electrical products manufacturer, from using the brand names “CAWELS” and “CAWELS ELECTRIC,” holding that they are deceptively similar to “HAVELLS,” the well-known trademark of Havells India Limited.

A single-judge Bench of Justice Tejas Karia passed the interim order on December 1, 2025, while allowing Havells' application in a trademark infringement and passing-off suit involving electrical goods such as fans, cables, lighting products and home appliances.

The court found that the mark “CAWELS” was adopted by making only minor changes to the spelling of “HAVELLS” and that these changes were not enough to prevent confusion. It held that the two marks are visually, phonetically and structurally similar, especially due to the shared “-ELLS/-ELS” ending, and are used for identical or closely related electrical products.

Havells told the Court that it has been manufacturing and selling electrical goods since 1942, owns several trademark registrations for “HAVELLS” across multiple classes with the earliest dating back to 1955, and that the mark was declared a well-known trademark by the Delhi High Court in 2014.

Havells discovered in September 2025 that Cawels Electric was marketing electrical products under the names “CAWELS” and “CAWELS ELECTRIC” through its website.

Havells alleged that the rival marks were deliberately designed to closely imitate “HAVELLS” through small letter substitutions, creating phonetic similarity to ride on Havells' reputation and goodwill. Cawels Electric opposed interim relief, claiming that “CAWELS” was independently coined from the initials of its promoter, CA Shashi Kant, combined with the word “wells” or “wellness,”. It further argued that buyers of electrical products are careful consumers unlikely to be confused.

The court rejected this defence, noting that the records showed the name “CAWELS” had been adopted even before the promoter relied upon in the explanation was appointed, making the justification appear like an afterthought.

Emphasising that “HAVELLS” is a well-known trademark entitled to a protection, it held that the use of a deceptively similar mark, including as part of a corporate name or domain name, was likely to mislead consumers into believing there was a connection with Havells.

It observed that since Havells has a long-standing and established market presence while the rival company is at an early stage, the balance of convenience lies in favour of Havells and continued use of the disputed marks would cause irreparable harm.

It further noted that electrical products involve issues of safety, reliability and statutory compliance, and any failure by products sold under a confusingly similar name could erode consumer trust and damage Havells' commercial interests.

It therefore restrained Cawels Electric from using the marks “CAWELS,” “CAWELS ELECTRIC,” or any other deceptively similar name, whether as a brand, corporate name or domain name, in relation to electrical products until the final disposal of the suit.