HC grants relief to HUL in plea against Abbott over health drink ad

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday granted temporary relief to FMCG major Hindustan Unilever in a plea seeking an injunction against Abbott Laboratories for allegedly denigrating its product, Horlicks Diabetes Plus.

A bench led by justice R.I. Chagla said HUL had made out a strong prima facie case for the grant of ad-interim reliefs. "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 bench added.

The court will hear the final matter on 7 October.

According to HUL, the Horlicks Diabetes Plus has been designed for blood sugar management and is one of India’s highest fibre- nutritional drink. The FMCG company claimed that it 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 HUL’s representative that the advertisement was being widely circulated in various WhatsApp groups across the country, comprising pharmacists, chemists, sales agents, medical representatives, healthcare professionals, and family groups.

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The advertisement shows HUL's product (a blurred image) being shrugged and replaced with Abbott’s product, making Horlicks Diabetes Plus seem like an inferior or useless product, HUL alleged.

Though HUL’s legal representative immediately reached out to Abbott and sought a clarity on the issue, it failed to get any substantial response.

Consequently, HUL wrote an email to Abbott on 26 August 2024. “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 of an organization like Abbott,” it said.

The email asked Abbott to cease and desist from circulating the advertisement and sought provide details on the extent of circulation of its product advertisement.

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