'Officer's Choice' v. 'Original Choice' Whiskey Trademark Dispute: Supreme Court Appoints Justice Nageswara Rao As Mediator

Former Supreme Court judge Justice L Nageswara Rao is set to mediate a trademark dispute between India's leading whiskey-selling brands John Distilleries and Allied Blenders.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi today requested the former judge to facilitate the process of amicable settlement between the companies on a priority basis.

The development came in John Distilleries' plea against the Madras High Court order which ruled in favour of Allied Blenders, the maker of Officer's Choice whisky, and ordered the removal of John Distilleries' 'Original Choice' trademark from the register of trademarks. In this order of November 7, the High Court held that Original Choice was deceptively similar to Officer's Choice and that its registration violated the Trade Marks Act, 1999. It also confirmed that Allied Blenders' registration for Officer's Choice remains valid.

The dispute arose as Allied Blenders filed a rectification petition before the trademark registry seeking removal of John Distilleries “Original Choice” trademark, claiming it was phonetically and visually similar to its mark and likely to confuse consumers. In turn, John Distilleries filed its own rectification plea against Allied Blenders' “Officer's Choice” mark, alleging that Allied Blenders had suppressed facts when seeking registration and that its 1990 registration application was filed before it had obtained ownership of the mark.

In 2013, the IPAB dismissed both petitions, ruling that the marks were not deceptively similar. Both companies then approached the Madras High Court.

Vide the impugned order, the High Court found that the IPAB (since defunct) erred in its 2013 order by comparing only the word elements of the rival marks instead of assessing the labels as a whole. Considering the long pendency of the case and the abolition of the IPAB, the Court decided to examine the marks itself instead of sending the matter back.

The High Court first examined whether Allied Blenders' 1990 application for the trademark Officer's Choice was valid. It found no element of fraud in Allied Blenders' application and noted that the same was supported by proper board resolutions, an assignment agreement, and a subsequent deed of assignment with the original proprietor.

On the other hand, the Court rejected John Distilleries' claim that its mark 'Original Choice' had co-existed peacefully with Officer's Choice. It held that the IPAB had failed to exercise its powers under Section 57 of the Trade Marks Act to properly assess the validity of the registration. Referring to Sections 9(1)(a) and 9(2)(a) of the Act, the Bench emphasized that a trademark which lacks distinctiveness or is likely to deceive the public cannot be allowed to remain on the register.

It was concluded that Original Choice lacked distinctiveness and was likely to deceive the public. Accordingly, the High Court ordered the rectification of the Original Choice trademark, set aside the IPAB's earlier dismissal of Allied Blenders' petition, and allowed Allied Blenders' writ petition in full.

Appearance: Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi, Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Harish Salve, Dr AM Singhvi and Shyam Diwan

Case Title: M/S. JOHN DISTILLERIES PVT LIMITED Versus M/S. ALLIED BLENDERS AND DISTILLERS PVT LTD., SLP(C) No. 33238-33239/2025 

Click Here To Read/Download Order