In a temporary relief to Hindustan Unilever (HUL), the Bombay High Court has restrained an advertisement by Abbott Laboratories that allegedly damaged image of HUL’s Horlicks Diabetes Plus product.
A bench led by Justice RI Chagla said, “The balance of convenience is in favour of the plaintiff (HUL). Unless reliefs as prayed for are granted, the plaintiff will suffer irreparable harm/injury which cannot be compensated in terms of money,” the HC bench said as per Livemint report.
The FMCG brand alleged that Abbott Lab’s circulated ads of ‘Ensure Diabetes Care’ product on various platforms. HUL said that in those advertisements, Abbott showed the blurred image of its Horlicks, and was shrugged and replaced with Ensure Diabetes. Abbott Lab’s advertisement attempted to show Horlicks Diabetes Plus as an ‘inferior and useless product’, the compnay alleged.
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Notably, HUL’s legal representative reached out to Abbott and sought clarity on the issue, but said that it failed to get any ‘substantial’ response from Abbott.
“We understand that the said advertisement is being used in your medicine /expert/chemist channel (‘recipients’) and has been widely shared within the said channel on WhatsApp. We would like to bring to your notice that such an act is illegal and unfitting for an organization like Abbott,” HUL wrote to Abbott in an email.
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The FMCG company asked Abbott to cease and desist from circulating the advertisement.
HUL said its Horlicks Diabetes Plus had been designed for blood sugar management and is one of “India’s fiber-nutritional drinks”.
The brand said it has a valid trademark for the product.
The next hearing is on 7 October 2024.