Delhi High Court restrains Emami from airing commercial

The Delhi High Court yesterday restrained Emami Ltd, the ayurvedic oil maker from airing a TV commercial of its Navratan oil featuring Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan.

The order came on the plea of another oil manufacturer GK Burman Herbal (India) Pvt Ltd alleging that Emami's commercial casts aspersion on its product.

In an ex-parte interim order,  justice Manmohan Singh has directed Emami to stop all forms of the TV commercial.
 
Burman Herbal India (pvt) Ltd is seeking permanent injunction on ''circulating, distributing, telecasting, broadcasting and advertising'' any material defaming or maligning its product.

According to the petitioner,  Emami ''knowingly and fraudulently'' made the advertisement to harm the goodwill and reputation which it had earned in the last 25 years.
 
The petitioner alleged that the sole motive of  Emami was to drive out healthy competition from the market and to make illegal and unlawful gains.
 
G K Burman Herbal India (Pvt) Ltd is seeking permanent injunction for infringement of its trade marks and copy right violation and damages worth Rs20 lakh.
 
Counsel for Burman, Ajay Sahani submitted before the court that the product Himgange Ayurvedic Oil was developed by the company's founder Gautam Kumar Burman in 1987.

He also claimed that the product had distinctive artistic features by way of  the shape of a green background label which carried the trade mark "HIMGANGE" in a distinctive artistic vernacular font in yellow colour, which features below it the expression 'Ayurvedic Teil' in white artistic vernacular font.