Trilegal advised Wipro in a comparative advertisement suit against USV Limited at the Bombay High Court

Trilegal advised Wipro in a comparative advertisement suit against USV Limited at the Bombay High Court

Trilegal acted as the legal advisor for Wipro in a comparative advertisement suit before the Bombay High Court seeking an injunction against an advertisement campaign by USV Limited. Trilegal was successful in restraining the infringing advertisement campaign.

The advertisement compared Wipro's product 'Santoor' with USV's product 'Sebamed' in a manner that was disparaging of Santoor.

Last month, while granting an interim injunction, Justice AK Menon had restrained USV from disparaging or infringing brands owned by HUL and Wipro Enterprises. The interim order was granted against the continuation of the advertisement campaign pending the disposal of the suit.

However, the interim order, dated 16 June, was challenged by USV before a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court.

On 13 July 2022, a division bench led by Justice Gautam Patel and Justice Abhay Ahuja in an oral order dismissed USV's appeal against the single bench ruling, saying that it was entirely correct in its approach.

The matter involved legal complexities on how serious comparison in advertisements based on unfair determinants denigrates the reputation and goodwill of a product that is unfairly compared. While judicial precedents state that comparative advertisements are prima facie permitted, the fine line of commercial free speech under Article 19(1)(a) and disparagement of a product was a matter of dispute. The law on this issue, while dealt with in multiple decisions of various high courts, is not fully crystalized.

The Trilegal team was led by Partners Nitesh Jain, Tine Abraham, and Siddharth Ranade, along with Ritika Ajitsaria, Senior Associate, and Kaazvin Kapadia, Associate.