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New Delhi, May 1: : A long drawn court battle between Bisleri and Coca Cola over intellectual property rights of cold drink brand Maaza is on the cards, with promoter Ramesh Chauhan threatening to raise damage claim against the soft drinks major.
"I have already written a letter to Coca-Cola seeking compensation of Rs 20 crore for the infringement of IPR. If I do not hear from them, I am going to take legal action," Bisleri International Chairman Ramesh Chauhan said.
While Chauhan did not explain how he arrived at the Rs 20 crore figure for the damage, Chauhan said if there was a delay on the part of Coke to respond he would "increase the damage claim".
When contacted a Coca Cola India spokesperson said: "We have already stated our position (on the issue) and have nothing further to add".
The company had earlier said it has not breached any agreement and has no intention of registering the Maaza brand in countries outside India. It had also withdrawn application to register the brand in Turkey.
Claiming that the IPR for creation of Maaza rests with Bisleri, Chauhan had last month written to Coke saying the soft drinks firm's efforts to register the brand in other countries outside India "is a breach" of IPR.
"This act of Coca Cola amounts to stealing of our intellectual property rights and therefore is illegal. Therefore, you are requested to withdraw all applications, wherever you may have applied for and compensate us by paying five million dollars as damages for infringing on our intellectual property right," Chauhan wrote in his letter.
Maaza was the brainchild of Chauhan, who sold it to TCCC in 1993, along with Thumbs-Up, Citra, Goldspot, Rim-Zim and Limca.
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