Milton Keynes mumpreneur who sells Indian spices wins court battle to protect her company's name

A mum from MK who started her own ready-to-cook Indian spice company has won a heated court battle against an overseas company that accused her of copying their name.

Nimisha Chotai came up with her business idea after having children and realising she’d lost the key ingredient needed to make delicious curries from scratch – time.

Rather than using jars of sauces or pastes, she wanted create a simple solution to bring back traditional Indian cooking that tasted homemade.

Nimisha launched Masalawaala, selling packs of ready-mixed spices and meal kits to take the time and effort out of preparation.

But India-based international spice company Pravin Masalewale claimed she had copied their name. They argued Nimisha’s company had allegedly sought to hijack the Masalawaala trade mark for its own benefit and prevent them from trading in Britain under its own name.

The case began in the UK Intellectual Property Office in March 2022 and included allegations of bad faith. Faced with the prospect of losing her business and livelihood, Nimisha fought back, using lawyers from national law firm Freeths.

Now she has won her case. The Freeths team, led by Intellectual Property and Media Partner Martin Noble, successfully argued that Nimisha had developed the Masalawaala name in good faith and could not be prevented from using it.

Firstly, they argued, there were no earlier rights to the name, and secondly, the name was sufficiently different.

A hearing officer found the Indian-based company held no trade mark rights in Britain.

Commenting on the win, Martin Noble, said: “This was a great victory for Nimisha, as she has put in a lot of effort into creating her business, which has already won a number of prestigious food awards.

“Faced with a challenge to her core brand, an adverse decision would have meant going back to the drawing board, which was not palatable at all. The IPO has exonerated the Masalawaala brand from the allegations of fakery and deception made by their opponent and this decision means Nimisha can continue to focus on expanding her brand and growing goodwill through increased sales.”

Nimisha said: “I’m thrilled and most of all relieved that all the hard work put in to create Masalawaala has not gone to waste, and we can continue to create the authentic taste of India and establish ourselves as a market leader.”

She added: “Martin and the team at Freeths have been extremely impressive, responsive, and engaged with the entire process, providing sound legal advice throughout.

“We might be a smaller and newer company than competitors, but we wanted to take ownership of our name from the start. Building a solid reputation and brand presence is very important to us at this stage, and Freeths understood this completely.”

Her Masalawaala brand has already enjoyed a string of successes. In 2019 it was awarded the Best Ready to Cook Spice Mix Brand at the Lux Life Food and Drinks Awards and also the Newcomer Brand of 2019 at the Asian Food & Restaurants Awards International (AFRA).

It also won Food Brand of the Year 2020 at AFRA and has received 2 stars from the Guild of Fine Foods for its Tikka Masala Mix.