Court grants relief to Unilever's India unit over 'Glow & Handsome' trademark

Emami

07/07/2020 08:28

BENGALURU, July 7 (Reuters) - An Indian court has directed
consumer goods maker Emami Ltd  EMAM.NS  to give bigger rival
Hindustan Unilever Ltd  HLL.NS  seven days notice before
initiating legal proceedings over the 'Glow & Handsome'
trademark, according to a July 6 order https://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/writereaddata/weborders/PDF/O06072020101.pdf.
    The Indian arm of global consumer giant Unilever  ULVR.L 
said on July 2 it would rebrand its skin-lightening cream 'Fair
& Lovely' to 'Glow & Lovely'.
    The company said its skin cream for men will be called 'Glow
& Handsome', but Emami said it had launched 'Glow & Handsome’
digitally one week before HUL announced the name change.
    Hindustan Unilever first applied for the trademarks, 'Glow &
Lovely' and 'Glow & Handsome' in September 2018, application for
which was rejected in 2019, and re-applied in June 2020, the
company said in a petition to the high court in the western
state of Maharashtra.
    Hindustan Unilever and Emami did not respond to requests for
comment and the court has set July 27 as the next hearing date.
    The decision to rebrand its line of skin creams came after
Hindustan Unilever faced criticism that the name 'Fair & Lovely'
promoted negative stereotypes towards darker skin
tones. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2E92PF