The fight between HUL and Emami, two of the leading fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, may intensify over the use of the Glow & Handsome men’s fairness cream trademark.
HUL may challenge the Calcutta High Court’s single-bench order on April 9 restraining the use of the trademark as early as next week, sources have told FE. The appeal could be filed in front of a division bench of the court, experts said.
In response to a mail, HUL said it was reviewing the order. “The Calcutta High Court has issued an order of injunction for passing-off after almost four years in a suit filed by Emami. We are reviewing the order and will take appropriate action.”
Justice Ravi Kapur had on Tuesday asked HUL to remove its ‘Glow & Handsome’ products from the shelves within a month’s time, saying that it was deceptively similar to Emami’s ‘Fair & Handsome’ brand, which had acquired distinctiveness in the market.
Emami had argued that the term ‘Handsome’ was a prominent, leading and essential feature of its trademark. “Nobody has any right to represent the goods of somebody else. In doing so, the rival takes a ‘free ride’,” the judgment said.
“In view of the fact that the respondent (HUL) has already launched its product, it is granted a month to take necessary steps to comply with this order,” it said.
HUL had rebranded its men’s Fair & Lovely product as well as its women’s range under Fair & Lovely to Glow & Handsome and Glow & Lovely in July 2020 as part of a more inclusive vision of beauty.
Experts peg sales of Glow & Handsome at Rs 1,000 crore per annum, with the brand ranked second to Fair & Handsome in the Rs 4,000-crore men’s fairness cream market in India. At Rs 2,500 crore in terms of sales per annum, Fair & Handsome has nearly 65% of the market, sector analysts said.
“HUL is racing against time as far as Glow & Handsome goes,” says N Chandramouli, CEO at Mumbai-based TRA Research, a brand advisory and insights firm.
“The men’s fairness cream category is huge. To take a brand off shelves or launch a rebranded product will not be easy in a competitive market,” Chandramouli said.
HUL had argued in the HC that ‘Handsome’ was purely descriptive and lacked distinctiveness. It argued that it was a generic term also used by other competitors in the industry and was not used as a standalone mark.