The Delhi High Court has issued directives on the sale of used and refurbished Hard Disk Drives (HDD) in its judgement on 21 May 2024 in the case between Seagate Technologies and Western Digital Technologies ('Manufacturers'/'Plaintiff') against Daichi International, Consistent Infosystems Pvt. Ltd, Geonix International Pvt. Ltd and Cubicor Information Systems Pvt. Ltd (termed as "Defendants").

The Sale of Used and Refurbished HDDs will comply to the following terms and conditions:

(i) Packaging to identify the source of the product: Packaging in which the refurbished product is sold, will clearly indicate that the HDD is manufactured by the concerned plaintiffs (Seagate or WD as the case may be). This may be displayed in a manner not to deceive the customer that the sale itself is of the original Seagate or WD i.e. it should be clear, but not dominating the packaging.

(ii) Reference to the original manufacturer is to be made through their word mark and not the device mark: Reference to the plaintiffs should be through their word marks as in “Seagate” or “WD”, as the case may be. Defendant shall not use plaintiffs’ logos, in order to not cause any deception to the consumer.

(iii) Packaging must specify that there is no original manufacturer’s warranty: A clear statement must be made to the effect that there is no manufacturers’ warranty or service by (Seagate or WD, as the case may be) on this product.

(iv)    Packaging must specify that the product is “Used and Refurbished”: A prominent statement on the front of packaging to the effect that the product is “Used and Refurbished” by the concerned defendants (Consistent or Geonix or Daichi, as the case may be)

(v)  Statement as to extended warranty by the Refurbisher: A clear and prominent message that the warranty or service of specified years is being provided by the concerned defendants (Consistent or Geonix or Daichi, as the case may be), along with customer care details and contacts.

(vi)  Packaging must reflect an accurate description of the features: An accurate, truthful, precise description of features and purpose of the refurbished product, without any misleading, half-truth, deceptive, ambiguous statements (which could potentially mis-inform the consumer as to the features of the product and the purposes for which it could be used).

(vii) All of the above should also be complied with by the defendants on promotional literature, website, e-commerce listings, brochures and manuals.

The above judgement was passed by the Single Judge Bench of Hon'ble Mr Justice Anish Dayal of the Delhi High Court.