Telugu Cinema (Tollywood) superstar Vijay Deverakonda and his company Rowdywear Pvt. Ltd. have filed a suit against Amazon and a few manufacturers before the Civil Court at Bengaluru, aggrieved by the fact that counterfeit Rowdy merchandise of inferior quality were being sold by certain manufacturers through the Amazon platform. In addition, the Plaintiffs’ were aggrieved by the fact that the packaging material of the counterfeit t-shirts unlawfully carried Vijay Deverakonda’s pictures.

Recently, the Plaintiff’s launched the official Rowdy app which has crossed over 1 million downloads. The Rowdy merchandise has been slated as a breakthrough lifestyle brand.

Apart from alleging passing off of their “Rowdy” trademarks by the Defendants, the Plaintiffs’ have also alleged that Vijay Deverakonda’s right to publicity and privacy were violated owing to the fact that the packaging material of the counterfeit t-shirts unlawfully carried Vijay Deverakonda’s pictures.

Interestingly, this case raises several questions regarding the enforceability of right of personality and privacy.

The Plaintiffs were represented by Mr. Chintan Chinnappa, Partner, Spectrum Legal and Ms. Anandi Kamani (Associate) and Mr. Nishanth Nandagopal (Associate).