Haw Par Bros International Ltd, a Singapore-based multinational, yesterday sought an injunction from the Supreme Court against Rangoon Chemical Works Ltd, a Surat-based company, alleging that the Indian company was passing off its famous Tiger medicinal balm.
Haw Par counsel F S Nariman argued that the Surat company has adopted the hexagonal shape for the bottle, Chinese language and symbols, the picture of a leaping tiger and other decade-old characteristics of their product which has market in over a hundred countries. He also submitted that transborder reputation of a product should be respected.
The Surat company has Peacock and other trademarks, but it has chosen the Tiger trade mark also, to pass off the product as that of the original, it was alleged. The consumers are confused by the deceptively similar package, as confirmed by a market survey conducted by the Indian Market Research Bureau in 1994.
The Indian company countered by submitting that it had started marketing its product under the name Flying Tiger balm in 1965. Its counsel, Soli Sorabjee, said that the multinational did not protest till now. During this period, the Indian company invested a lot of capital, given employment and expanded business. After this long silence, the foreign company cannot claim injunction now, counsel argued.
The legal battle between the two companies started in Bangalore when Haw Par filed a suit against the Surat company. The city court passed an injunction. But on appeal, the high court allowed the sale of the Flying Tiger balm with some modifications, like the word Flying should be in larger size and the tiger must have bigger wings.
The arguments were heard by a division bench which urged both parties to settle the issue by making adjustments in the design in the package by next week.
If there is no agreement, the court will have to decide on the crucial issue raised by this case whether a company would lose its case for an injunction by not making a claim on the design of the product for a long time. The answer to this question will affect many multinationals with transborder reputation who find that their brand names are already being used here by local companies.
