North Face swoop on Darjeeling traders This is the first time that a multinational company is pursuing such a case in Darjeeling

A North Face store in Beijing, China. The US company appointed the Delhi-based United Overseas Trade Mark Company to pursue its case in Darjeeling  (Shutterstock)

Vivek Chhetri, TT, 18 July 2019,  Darjeeling: The North Face Apparel Corp, the US-based outdoor recreation product company, has filed a police complaint against “some shops” in Darjeeling for allegedly falsifying the firm’s trade mark.

Darjeeling police arrested two shopkeepers on July 7 and seized 107 jackets and 69 pants from their shops in the hills. Sources said the two traders had been granted bail.

This is the first time that a multinational company is pursuing such a case in Darjeeling.

The North Face” apparels are ubiquitous in the hill town, surprising many visitors from abroad. Cloned products of other brands are also found here.

The US company appointed the Delhi-based United Overseas Trade Mark Company to pursue its case in Darjeeling, sources said.

“A case was filed by Vishal Mondal, constituent attorney duly authorised to sign and verify the complaint on behalf of The North Face Apparel Corp, at Darjeeling police station on July 6,” said a source.

The police conducted raids on the two shops in Darjeeling the following day and Mondal verified that the products were not genuine.

Mondal had complained that some “unscrupulous persons/firms” were indulging in manufacturing, printing, marketing distributing, stocking, selling “spurious/counterfeit” products of The North Face, said the source.

The US company feels such an act amounted to cheating the general public, loss of revenue for the government and also “tarnishing” the image of the brand.

Sources said “The North Face” products sold in Darjeeling came at less than half the price of authentic product. “It is a household name in the region,” said a resident.

During investigations, the arrested shopkeepers informed the police that they had been selling the products for many years and had procured them from Nepal and Siliguri.

Sources said “The North Face spurious apparels” were manufactured in Nepal itself.

Darjeeling shares an open border with Nepal.

Pranay Rai, public prosecutor, told The Telegraph: “The arrested shopkeepers were booked under Section 420 (cheating)/34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code along with Section 63/65 of Copyright Act and Sections 103/104 of Trademark Act.”

The company has complained against the “use of trademark, logo, word mark”.

Under the copyright act, punishment can range from six months to three years. along with a fine.