Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted interim relief to FMCG major Hindustan Unilever in a copyright infringement case against Abbott Laboratories.
HUL had filed the petition seeking an injunction against Abbott for allegedly infringing and denigrating its product, Horlicks Diabetes Plus.
A bench headed by Justice RI Chagla said HUL had made out a strong prima facie case for grant of interim relief. “The balance of convenience is in favour of the petitioner (HUL). Unless the relief sought for is granted, the petitioner will suffer irreparable harm/injury which cannot be compensated in terms of money,” the bench added.
The court will hear the final matter on October 7.
According to HUL, Horlicks Diabetes Plus has been designed for blood sugar control and is one of the highest fibre nutritional drinks in India. FMCG company He claimed that he has a valid trademark for the product.
HUL said it came across an advertisement for Abbott’s product, Ensure Diabetes Care, in August 2024. A pharmacist informed the HUL representative that the advertisement was widely circulated in various WhatsApp groups across the country, comprising pharmacists, chemists, sales agents, medical representatives, healthcare professionals and family groups.
The advertisement shows HUL’s product (a blurred image) being replaced by Abbott’s product, making Horlicks Diabetes Plus appear to be an inferior or useless product, HUL alleged.
Although HUL’s legal representative immediately contacted Abbott and sought clarification on the issue, he did not get any substantive response.
Accordingly, HUL wrote an email to Abbott on August 26, 2024. “We understand that the said advertisement is being used on your drug/expert/chemist channel (‘targets’) and has been widely shared within the said channel on WhatsApp. We would like to inform you that such an act is illegal and unbecoming of an organization like Abbott,” it read.
The email asked Abbott to stop circulating the ad and requested that it provide details about the extent to which its product advertising was circulated.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.