Amazon Technologies Inc. is contesting Delhi High Court’s order for it to pay Lifestyle Equities C.V. and Lifestyle Licensing B.V. Rs3.4 billion (US$39.9 million) in damages for infringing the Beverly Hills Polo Club (BHPC) trademark, as reported by The Economic Times.

According to the ecommerce company, Lifestyle Equities, which launched the BHPC brand in India in 2007, did not provide enough evidence of the supposed trademark infringement. Amazon filed its appeal on May 2, 2025.

The online marketplace was alleged to have infringed the BHPC trademark by manufacturing, selling and advertising clothing items under the label Symbol which deceptively bears the same mark as BHPC – both the word mark and the famous polo player and horse logo. Amazon’s India website was found to be selling the products at significantly lower prices.

On February 25, 2025, the Delhi High Court ruled that Amazon was liable for trademark infringement. The court issued a permanent injunction prohibiting Amazon from selling the said products, apart from ordering the U.S.-based company to pay the amount in damages.

Aditya Gupta, partner at Ira Law in New Delhi, takes issue with the apportionment of damages among the various Amazon entities, which were parties to the suit. “The plaintiff settled the suit with the seller of the products in India, namely Cloudtail, for damages of approximately US$5,500. While the court notes that Amazon Technologies Inc. is the licensor of the house brand Symbol – which was not the infringing mark in this case – and also takes issue with this entity’s attempt to ‘evade judicial scrutiny,’ it is unclear under which theory of apportionment could Amazon Technologies Inc. be saddled with damages of US$33 million, when the plaintiff had chosen to settle the case with the seller of the infringing products for merely US$5,500. In fact, the Indian seller had categorically argued that it was the sole entity responsible for the infringing brand and Amazon Technologies Inc. was not responsible for the same,” Gupta explained.

The main appeal is listed for hearing on October 9.

- Espie Angelica A. de Leon