Delhi HC Restrains Man From Use of ‘Barbie’ Trademark, Grants Relief To Mattel

While granting relief to toy giant Mattel Inc., the Delhi High Court has restrained an Indian man from using “Barbie” or any deceptively similar mark in his business activities after the company filed a trademark infringement suit.

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora passed the order on September 8, finding that Defendant No. 1, Padum Borah, had adopted the mark “Barbie” for ventures such as Barbie Enterprises, Barbie Hospitality, Barbie Catering, Barbie Kitchen Mart and others.

Observing that the use was visually, phonetically and conceptually identical to Mattel’s registered mark, the Court said, “It is apparent that the Defendant No. 1 has adopted this famous mark so as to create an initial interest in the mind of the consumer with respect to the products of the Defendant and to capture the customer’s attention.”

The Court added that the adoption of the iconic mark by the defendant was without any reasonable explanation and aimed at misleading consumers.

Relying on the principle laid down in Under Armour Inc. v. Anish Agarwal, the Court concluded that Mattel had established a strong prima facie case and risked grave irreparable harm if protection was denied.

“In the considered opinion of this Court, the Plaintiff has been able to make out a prima facie case in its favour. The balance of convenience is also in favour of the Plaintiff and against the Defendant No. 1. The Plaintiff is likely to suffer grave irreparable harm in case an ad-interim injunction is not granted.”

Accordingly, the Court restrained the defendant from using Barbie or similar marks in any form, directed the removal of social media accounts and pages using such names, and ordered domain registrars to suspend the websites barbieenterprise.com and barbieenterprise.in.

“Defendant No. 1 is directed to remove/takedown all their social media pages/profiles/accounts including but not limited to Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, referring to the marks Barbie One Stop Solution For HORECA & Foods Processing, Barbie Enterprises, Barbie Hospitality, Barbie Catering, and Barbie Kitchen Mart, and/or any other deceptively similar variant/s of the Plaintiff’s trademark Barbie.” the Court ordered.

In its plea, Mattel argued that its trademark “Barbie” is among the world’s most recognizable brands, backed by over 1,800 registrations across 100+ countries.

The company told the Court that it became aware in 2024 of the defendant’s trademark application for “Barbie One Stop Solution for HORECA & Foods Processing.” A cease-and-desist notice sent in August 2024 went unanswered.

The Trade Marks Registry later raised objections, but the defendant insisted that its use of the word “Barbie” in combination with other terms was distinctive and pertained to a different class of goods.

The Court rejected these arguments, observing, "The Plaintiff is the registered proprietor of the trademark ‘Barbie’ and has been using the said trademark since 1959 with respect to several classes. The Plaintiff’s trademark Barbie, as noticed above, is a coined term.”

The matter will next be heard on March 10, 2026.

For Plaintiff: Ms. Shwetasree Majumder, Mr. Prithvi Singh, Mr. Prithvi Gulati and Mr. Ritwik Marwaha, Advocates

For Defendants: None

Case Title: Mattel, Inc v Padum Borah and Ors

Bench: Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora

Order Date: 8 September 2025