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good morning. India’s anti-graft agency has filed a police complaint against Madhabi’s Pribuh, who served as the chairman of the market regulator until its term ended three days ago. The fees are a bit inexplicable considering they are in the case of about 30 years old – I’ll definitely keep an eye on them.
In today’s newsletter, Amazon has to pay to copy the Beverly Hills Polo Association brand logo. But first, there is nothing like there are too many trade deals.
Make a contract. Or 3
‘This is the season of trade transactions. Yesterday, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal left for the US to launch a talks on the bilateral trade agreement announced at a meeting between Narendra Modi and Donald Trump. Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was in India and spoke about the outlook for the world’s largest trade deal. India and the UK have resumed trade talks after on and off negotiations for the first time since 2022.
These contracts are important. India is a country with one of the world’s highest tariffs, and the successful culmination of these negotiations means that the Indian market will be open to more foreign products. This is great news for consumers who have access to a wide range of products from major international markets without paying a massive premium. The impact on Indian manufacturing is less favorable, but both Indian products need to compete in both quality and price.
The contract with the US, the second largest trading partner after China, is currently India’s most important trading partner. The deal will also secure the economy (hopefully) from Trump’s whimsical tariff announcements. India is about to stitch this up by the end of the year. The UK trade agreement falls into issues such as student visas and duties with Scotch whiskey. Last week’s talks were the first since the UK’s Labour Government took office, and Jonathan Reynolds’ new business and secretary of commerce said securing transactions was a top priority for his government. Consultations with the EU are in the early stages. Von der Leyen has expressed his hope of sealing the agreement by the end of the year, but that seems unlikely as this is a complex negotiation involving various entities in the bloc and is not the top priority of India’s already growing Ministry of Commerce.
A key reason for the surge in activity in terms of trade contracts is Trump’s love for tariffs. His initial goals were Canada, China and Mexico, but he is now spreading the tariff threat to other regions, including the EU. For Europe and the UK, India offers considerable market opportunities where China’s geopolitical complexity is not increasing. This will put the team at Goyal in a comfortable position. But negotiations with the US will be even more difficult, especially since Trump wants to show off the deal as a big victory for his administration, so those with knowledge of the debate told me.
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Pierce Brosnan is licensed for ki. (I love this headline on HTSI this week. I’m a good pun sucker)
Wrong copy
Delhi High Court on Friday ordered Amazon Technologies, a unit of the American e-commerce group, to pay Lifestyle Equity $39 million to infringe the copyright of the apparel brand’s logo Beverly Hills Polo Club. This amount is one of the greater damages imposed by Indian courts on US companies. The lifestyle equity complaint was that Amazon was selling its own brand of T-shirts under the name “symbol” (irony?).
In its ruling, the court said “one person must be Sherlock Holmes,” and concluded that “if apparel products close to the same logo are made available to consumers, the market for the original product at the original price will be lost.”
Indian courts have seen numerous cases of intellectual property rights lawsuits, particularly in the past few years. For small businesses, using logos similar to those of major brands is an easy way to get early sales, especially on e-commerce platforms where customers have limited ability to scrutinize the authenticity of their products. Amazon, a company with around 200 tons, has indulged in the practice, making it even more serious. More importantly, the court has called for Amazon to obfuscate liability by operating through multiple entities and roles. In this case, Amazon’s individually registered units operated as brand owners, retailers and intermediaries.
As the Indian market matures and more global brands emerge (thanks to all trade transactions!), it becomes essential to establish a fair remedy mechanism for business disputes. The Delhi Court’s ruling sets the tone for it.
(*Now – Other intellectual property cases that have been appearing in court recently are Bollywood stars such as Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff, who are trying to secure their identity rights.
Go to the diagram
Here are some simple snapshots of some of the key economic indicators that have come up over the past few days.
8.3%
Growth in Government Expenditures – 3rd Quarter
9.1%
GST Collection Growth – February
My Mantra
“We all want to balance everything in life. I think there are three layers of productivity. The first is work, the second is family, the third is individual. And we need to try to optimize everything we do with all three buckets.”
– Yatin Shah, co-founder of 360 One
Every week we invite top Indian business leaders to teach us the mantras of work and life. Want to know what your boss is thinking? Reply to indiabrief@ft.com and nominate
Simple questions
To what extent will Indian manufacturing deal with cheaper imports? Please tell me here.
Please tell me why at indiabrief@ft.com
Buzzer round
On Friday we asked: Why is the Tokyo government planning to allow staff to work in four days week?
The answer is. . . To improve the country’s fertility rate.
Again, Aniruddha Dutta was the first person with the correct answer. Congratulations!
Thank you for reading. Indian Business Briefing is compiled by Tee Zhuo. Send feedback, suggestions (and gossip) to indiabrief@ft.com.
