Danone, Wadias begin parleys on IPR issues

A day after French dairy major Groupe Danone announced that it would return the Tiger brand back to Britannia Industries (BIL), negotiations between the two warring partners have begun on how to untangle the intellectual property rights (IPR) issues.

In a statement, Danone said it has decided to return the Tiger brand back to Britannia "in-principle", and added that "this transfer can only be effective in the frame of negotiations with BIL". The Wadias had alleged that Danone had licensed its best-selling biscuit brand outside India without BIL board's knowledge and threatened to sue Danone.

In its defence, Danone said it had registered the Tiger IP material in markets where BIL is not present, thereby protecting the IP material from being abused by others with the full knowledge of the management and the board of BIL. Britannia did not react to the Danone offer officially today but insiders say the management is studying the Danone offer to return the 'Tiger' brand. An earlier offer by Danone to compensate $ 1.34 million to Britannia for using the Tiger brand was rejected by the Wadias.