Vivo dragged to court over plagiarism

Ad agency Brand David, part of the WPP-owned Ogilvy group, has taken smartphone manufacturer Vivo to court over alleged plagiarism in an advertising campaign. Ogilvy group has claimed that it resembles a piece of work it presented to the company earlier.

The ad in question is for V17 Pro featuring actor Aamir Khan and a child at an amusement park. The Bombay High Court last week passed an interim order asking Vivo to deposit Rs.1 crore or furnish a bank guarantee.

The ad, however, has not been pulled off air despite allegations of plagiarism and copyright infringement against it. Vivo is contesting the matter.

Brand David says that when it pitched for the business last year, it submitted an idea with an amusement park. In May, Vivo informed Ogilvy India that it would be choosing another agency. The smartphone maker was then informed that the Intellectual Property in the proposal belonged to Ogilvy. While Vivo did not engage the services of Brand David after the pitch, the latter, as the order noted, was “shocked and surprised” to see a similar campaign for ‘Vivo V17 Pro’ executed by another agency in September. However, Vivo’s ad agency Dentsu Impact, which executed the campaign, has denied using Brand David’s idea and claims the work to be completely original.

According to the court order, the agency had said: “The entire execution of the impugned advertisement or at least the very essence of it is an infringement of copyright.” However, Vivo contended that there was no copyright infringement.

The next hearing is on November 22.