P&G wins trademark case against UP-based Unani medicine firm

P&G had approached the Bombay high court against Unani medicine company Jamia Remedies alleging infringement of their trademark 'Oral-B'

Published20 Jun 2018, 06:32 PM IST

The case was filed by Procter and Gamble Business Services Canada Company, a subsidiary of the US-headquartered home and personal care major, which owns the trademark rights over Oral-B. Photo: Mint

Mumbai: In a major relief to consumer goods major Procter & Gamble (P&G), which owns the Oral-B brand of toothbrushes, the Bombay high court has restrained UP-based Unani medicine company Jamia Remedies to manufacture and sell its mouth dusting powder under the ‘Ora-B’ brand.

P&G had approached the high court alleging infringement of their trademark ‘Oral-B’. The company had also sought the court’s intervention to permanently stop Jamia to use or register ‘Ora-B’, or any other similar brand, in any manner.

“The defendants (Jamia Remedies) by itself, its proprietor and partners, directors, servants, stockiest, dealers, distributors, assignees and agents, or otherwise howsoever, be restrained by perpetual order and injunction of from infringing the plaintiff No. 1 (Procter & Gamble) registered trademarks,” ruled Justice S.J. Kathawala in his order.

The court further said that the defendants should withdraw any trademark application for the mark ‘ORA-B’ and undertake that they shall not make any application for any trademark or copyright registration for any other mark, which is deceptively similar to the plaintiffs’ well-known mark ‘Oral-B’.

Jamia Remedies has also agreed to pay Rs2 lakh in damages to Procter & Gamble. While the US-consumer giant’s subsidiary has informed the court that the same money will go towards charity.

According to Statista, a German market research and statistics company, the size of the oral care segment in India is about $600 million (Rs4,000 crore) and it is expected to grow at 7% CAGR over the next five years. The segment is largely dominated by Colgate Palmolive, the maker of Colgate, and Hindustan Unilever, which owns the Close-Up and Pepsodent brands. The segment has seen a major shakeup after Baba Ramdev-promoted Patanjali launched its herbal oral care products.

The case was filed by Procter and Gamble Business Services Canada Company, a subsidiary of the US-headquartered home and personal care major, which owns the trademark rights over Oral-B. Jamia Remedies, which was founded in 2006 in Saharanpur, UP, manufactures wellness products based on Unani medicines.

Email queries to P&G and Jamia Remedies remained unanswered.