Dabur Moves Court Against Marico Over Packaging Of Honey

Within weeks of its launch, Saffola Honey had to face a lawsuit lodged by rival brand Dabur. Dabur stating its grievances went to Delhi High Court and filed a complaint alleging Saffola Honey to have imitated the shape of the bottle, trade dress, label, and packaging, very similar to that of Dabur Honey.

Dabur in its complaint states that Saffola has brought a lot of things in similarity to Dabur in its product which includes the yellow cap, dome-shaped label, use of honeycombs on the label  and also other similarities,

In response to the paperwork filed by Dabur, the courtroom stated in its interim order that “An overall comparison of the two product as noted above would prima-facie show a similarity causing confusion in the minds of the buyer, even though the trade name Saffola is prominently noted on the bottle.”

“It is clarified that this interim injunction would not apply to the products already sold by the defendant in the market and the defendant will maintain the accounts thereof which will be submitted to this court,” the order additional stated whereas setting the following date of listening to in August. In a similar appeal by Marico both the parties involved agreed that the “order be kept in abeyance since the interim application preferred by the plaintiff/respondent herein is still pending consideration and has not been disposed of,” according to a court order of 17th July.

“The matter is sub judice before the Delhi High Court and we will therefore not be able to comment on the case,” a Marico spokesperson stated in an email response. “We would like to inform that Marico continues to manufacture and sell Saffola Honey.”

Dabur in response to the order declined to say anything giving the reason that the case is still under sub-judice.

Dabur in its statement to the court said that it had been promoting Dabur Honey for a very long time since 1965, and the new brand packaging and the shape of the present bottle were adopted in the year 2013, retaining major elements of the trade dress and other important features. Dabur additionally gave out the figures of its gross sale in its honey segment between 2019-2020, which stood at Rs. 482 crores.  Marico, on the other hand, comes before its customers under the brand name Saffola along with oil, oats, and packaged meals, the portfolio have further been extended with the inclusion of honey into it from the month of June.