Delhi High Court Protects 'Safex' Trademark, Bars Deceptively Similar Use By Seed Company

The Delhi High Court on 26 May granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction in favour of Safex Chemicals India Limited and restrained Safex Seed India LLP from using the mark “Safex” or any deceptively similar variant in relation to agricultural products.

A Bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela held that “Safex Seed” lacked distinctiveness and remained descriptive, and therefore failed to distinguish the defendant's mark from the plaintiff's registered trademark. He held:

“From a simple and plain perusal of both the marks, it is apparent that between the trademark of the plaintiff “SAFEX” and that of the defendant no.1 “SAFEX”/ “SAFEX SEED”, there is no distinction at all. The inclusion of the word “SEED” by itself is not distinctive and rather is descriptive of the goods and the services being provided by the defendant no.1.”

The Court compared the rival logos and found that both prominently featured the word “Safex” in stylised form in dark blue or black. It observed that although Safex Chemicals placed a leaf device before its mark and the defendant used differently coloured leaf elements, the word “Safex” remained the dominant feature in both.

It further held that the defendant's packaging, which prominently displayed “Safex Seeds” in Hindi, could mislead consumers into believing the products originated from Safex Chemicals.

Justice Gadela also flagged a heightened risk of confusion in the agricultural market, noting that farmers and agriculturists “may simply go by the reputation of the brand 'SAFEX' rather than inquire into as to whose products they are ultimately purchasing.”

He noted that Safex Chemicals has used the mark since 1991, operates through 15,000 distributors across 18 states, and holds registrations in Classes 1 and 5. Its turnover increased from Rs 9.68 lakh in FY 1992–93 to Rs 85,313 lakh in FY 2024–25.

Finding the balance of convenience in favour of the plaintiff, the Court held that continued use of the impugned mark would cause irreparable harm that could not be compensated in monetary terms.

Accordingly, it directed completion of service and pleadings before the Joint Registrar on 14 August 2026 and listed the matter for the next hearing on 18 November 2026.