Einstein Box vs Newton Box: Delhi HC restrains Flipkart from offering educational product

Justice Jyoti Singh has further restrained the e-commerce platform and others from “copying, reproducing, adapting, altering, rearranging” the ‘Einstein Box’ products. The court also asked the company to take down the listings of the ‘Newton Box’ products.

The order was passed in a suit filed by Metis Learning Solutions Private Limited, which accused Flipkart and others of selling lookalikes of ‘Einstein Box’ products under the name ‘Newton Box’. The suit accuses Flipkart and other defendants of “blatant and brazen infringement of trademark, trade dress and copyright of the Plaintiff”.

It was submitted before the court that after extensive research, Metis Learning developed learning activities and games in the form of kits for children up to the age of 14 under the brand ‘Einstein Box’ and introduced it in 2016.

In the ongoing year, the company had sales in excess of Rs 15 crore, the court was told. ‘Einstein Box’ as a trademark was registered in 2019. “Over six years between 2016 and 2022, Plaintiff has launched more than 28 kits and to ensure that it reaches its target market, it has been selling the Einstein Box products only on large e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart and on its own brand website,” Metis Learning’s counsel told the court.

🚨 Limited Time Offer | Express Premium with ad-lite for just Rs 2/ day 👉🏽 Click here to subscribe 🚨

Given the success of the product, the court was told that Flipkart approached Metis Learning in April 2021 with a proposal to directly purchase the Einstein Box products from it. A wholesale supply agreement was signed in June 2021, as per the suit.

However, Metis Learning told the court that it was later shocked to see a product under the name of ‘Newton Box – Ultimate Science Kit’, using the photograph of the company’s CEO’s daughter, on Flipkart.com. The photograph had been taken as part of the photoshoot done for Einstein Box and was later removed in April 2022 from the listings after a complaint from the Metis Learning CEO.

“On purchase of a unit of the ‘Newton Box – Ultimate Science Kit’, it was found that the product was of a very poor quality and was not a BIS approved product,” the suit said, adding that no action was taken to stop the sale of “the infringing and illegal impugned products on Flipkart.com”.

The suit further alleges that numerous look-alikes of Einstein Box products were listed for sale on Flipkart under the name ‘Newton Box’ for different age groups. These products were using the marketing and listing images and information of Einstein Box products, the court was told.

Metis Learning also told the court that its apprehensions were confirmed when it learned on Facebook that ‘Newton Box’ was exclusively available on Flipkart and had been launched on March 12, 2o22 by which time the ecommerce platform had exhausted the stock of Einstein Box products. The packaging of the two products was identical.

“During its review of the online marketing and listing information available on Defendant No. 1’s Flipkart.com regarding the infringing and illegal impugned products, Plaintiff was unable to find out the name of the seller, manufacturer or packager. The sale listings for impugned products on Defendant No. 1’s Flipkart.com only mention ‘Retailnet’ against ‘Seller’,” the court was told by Metis Learning, adding that hyperlink to ‘Retailnet’ does not provide any other information.

The court said that Metis Learning has made out a prima facie case for grant of ex parte ad-interim injunction and the balance of convenience lies in its favour. The company is likely to suffer irreparable harm in case the injunction is not granted, it said further.

Issuing summons to Flipkart India Private Limited and others, the court asked them to file a written statement within 30 days. The matter will be listed before court on September 2.