Delhi High Court Grants Ex-Parte Interim Injunction Protecting Designer Arjan Dugal's Clothing Label From Infringement

The Delhi High Court has granted interim relief to a city-based clothing label run by designer Arjan Dugal, in his suit filed against a former employee over alleged infringement of his trade dress, original artistic work.Justice Tejas Karia issued summons on the main suit and meanwhile, restrained the defendant— operating under the brand name 'So.Man', from dealing in any garment or product whose embroidery, silhouettes, accents, linings, colour scheme, and overall look and feel is identical or deceptively similar to Dugal's trade dress.“A prima facie case has been made out on behalf of the Plaintiffs for grant of an ex-parte ad- interim injunction…Irreparable injury would be caused to the Plaintiffs if an ex-parte ad- interim injunction is not granted,” said the bench.Dugal's flagship store is situated in the city's Friend's Colony area whereas the Defendant— Shubham Gandhi operates from Noida.The former claims to have launched his brand back in 2014 adopting a “fresh take on classic Indian wear” whereas the Defendant was his employee.Dugal claimed that during his employment, the Defendant gained access to his proprietary and confidential materials, including original Copyrights, Designs, garment construction methodologies, confidential design techniques, Trade Secrets, proprietary collections and the methods of their creation as well as sensitive client information.Dugal claimed that he operates in a highly niche segment, where each designer is closely identified by their unique visual language and design and creative sensibility. Thus he argued that Defendant's act of copying his “signature aesthetics” like (i) tone-on-tone embroidery, (ii) distinctive neckline cut, (iii) in-built pocket squares and (iv) the up-turned cuffs, and selling them at a much cheaper price is an attempt to undercut his business.Dugal also claimed rights over collections like Vertical Aari, Vertical Dori, The Shacket.Granting interim relief, the Court ordered the Defendant to remove infringing content from their website and social media pages, and appointed a Local Commissioner to seize infringing stock, catalogues, and promotional material, secure the confidential client database, and inventory the stock and accounts related to infringing sales.The matter is next listed for 17 December.Appearance: Mr. Chander M. Lall, Mr. Devanshu Khanna, Ms. Harsshita Pothiraj, Mr. Partheshwar Singh and Ms. Annanya Mehen, Advocates for PlaintiffCase title: Arjan Dugal v. Shubham GandhiCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1083Case no.: CS(COMM) 918/2025Click here to read order

Delhi High Court Grants Ex-Parte Interim Injunction Protecting Designer Arjan Dugal's Clothing Label From Infringement

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