Delhi HC awards Emami temporary relief in “Thanda Tel” packaging dispute with Dabur

In a case before the court, Emami claimed that although Dabur’s Cool King was just recently released to the market—in May 2023—and that it uncannily resembled Navratna oil, but Emami had been promoting Navratna oil since 1989.

According to Bar and Bench Dabur’s sale of their product, Dabur Cool King Thanda Tel, in packaging that is eerily similar to Emami’s Navratna is now illegal according to an interim injunction from the Delhi High Court. The case “Emami Limited v. Dabur India Limited” produced an interim ruling. According to the judgement by Justice C. Hari Shankar on August 9, there is a preliminary evidence that Dabur purposefully copied important features of Emami’s product in order to get access to the market that Emami had built up since 1989. This action by Dabur raises questions about possible infringement and unfair competition, it said.

“When one first views the two bottles, they have a similar appearance, with the minor variation between their two shapes being so subtle as not to be noticeable to a typical client. Both bottles of oil are crimson in color. According to the court as quoted by Bar and Bench, “The use of red color for oil is also, in my judgment, borrowed from the red oil which is utilized by the plaintiff.

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The court was dealing with a complaint that Emami had filed, claiming that they had been selling Navratna oil since 1989 while Dabur’s Cool King had only recently entered the market in May 2023 and that it had an unsettling similarity to Navratna. The argument’s main thrust was on Dabur’s claimed violation of Emami’s trademark, design, and copyright, which might have resulted in a passing-off act. The court spent a great deal of time throughout the legal procedures going into Dabur’s oil advertising strategies as well as the packaging of both products, which are sold in both bottle and sachet form.

Justice Hari Shankar noted with great interest that Dabur had made a conscious effort to make their product resemble Emami’s oil, with the obvious goal of confusing regular people. Dabur’s suggested redesigned packaging was met with opposition from the court, which was represented by Justice Hari Shankar. The court rejected the idea that the modification would allay any infringement worries, suggesting that the revised packaging may still be seen as illegal. Following that, the court issued a summons that was relevant to the case and made an interim ruling. On October 10, the joint registrar will hear a second hearing in the matter with the goal of wrapping up the procedure.