Bombay High Court restrains Emami from using ‘Glow and Handsome’ trademark

The Bombay High Court restrained Emami Limited, which owns ‘Fair and Handsome’ brand of products, from using the trademark ‘Glow and Handsome’ for its grooming and skincare products until further notice.

In a plea filed by Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), the bench also directed Emami to file its reply within two weeks.

“It is sufficient to note at this early prima facie stage that the plaintiff (HUL) is a prior adopter and user of the mark ‘Glow & Handsome’. It has already launched its goods in the market with that trademark,” Justice Gupte said in his seven-page order.

He further added, “So far as the defendant (Emami) is concerned, it is admittedly at the stage of adopting ‘a process of launching’ its goods under the trademark ‘Glow & Handsome’.”

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The counsels for HUL submitted that the mark was adopted by the company in September 2018 and it also applied for permission from the Food and Drug Administration to change the mark ‘Fair and Lovely’ to ‘Glow and Handsome’, which was granted on August 2 this year.

HUL, the maker of Dove soap and Surf detergent, approached the court last week seeking to restrain Emami from using the trademark.

Emami, the maker of BoroPlus cream and Navratna oil, argued that it was marketing its skincare product under the trademark ‘Fair & Handsome’ and that HUL was not entitled to use ‘Glow & Handsome’ for a similar product, since that infringed upon its registered trademark and amounted to passing off of goods.

Separately, Emami has initiated a suit against HUL at the Calcutta High Court, seeking a perpetual injunction against using the ‘Glow & Handsome’ trademark.

Senior Advocates Virag Tulzapurkar, Venkatesh Dhond along with advocate Hiren Kamod and Vaibhav Keni and Neha Iyer of law firm Legasis Partners represented HUL in the case. While Emami was being represented by Senior Counsels Jishnu Saha and Ranjan Bachawat.

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