Delhi High Court Restrains Pune Seller From Using "Max Volvo", "Max Volwo" Marks In Volvo's Trademark Suit

The court held that these infringe the trademark rights of Swedish auto company Volvo.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav passed the ad interim injunction on September 24 in a suit filed by Aktiebolaget Volvo and two other group companies, which together own and use the "VOLVO" trademark globally and in India, including on industrial oils and lubricants.

The Volvo companies said they came across a listing on the platform IndiaMART in April 2026 advertising lubricants under the "Max Volwo" mark.

An investigator sent by them visited the seller's premises, was told that lubricants were being sold under "Max Volvo" and manufactured under "Max Volwo", and bought a carton of "Max Volwo" products in cash.

The seller's representative later shared further product images over WhatsApp and quoted a price for "Volwo Gold" branded goods for delivery to Delhi.

The court found that "Max Volvo" reproduces the Volvo mark in its entirety, with the prefix "Max" doing nothing to distinguish it and, if anything, suggesting a premium Volvo variant.

It found "Max Volwo" "visually near-identical" to "Max Volvo", since "V" and "W" are commonly pronounced alike, making the mark, in the court's words, "nothing but a variant of 'VOLVO'" to a purchaser of average intelligence and imperfect recollection. It noted the goods were identical in class and sold through the same trade channels to the same buyers, namely vehicle owners, mechanics and workshops.

The bench also found that continued use of the marks could erode the distinctiveness of a coined mark used for over a century, and that any quality issues with the seller's lubricants could wrongly be attributed to Volvo.

Weighing this against the seller's relatively recent use of the marks, the court held the balance of convenience favoured the plaintiffs.

The court restrained the seller and those acting for it from manufacturing, selling or advertising lubricants under "Max Volvo", "Max Volwo", "Volwo Gold" or any deceptively similar mark, from passing off its goods as Volvo's, and from using these marks on any third-party listing or online platform.

It directed the seller to take down all such listings, including the one on IndiaMART, within a week of being served the order.

It clarified that its findings are prima facie and open to challenge once the seller appears.

The matter is listed before the Joint Registrar on November 2, 2026.

For Volvo: Advocates Pravin Anand, Vaishali, Siddhant and Shivang