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MUMBAI/KOLKATA: Even earlier than Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL’s) rebranded ‘Glow & Lovely’ (erstwhile Fair & Lovely) may hit shops, its newly christened men’s vary ‘Glow & Handsome’ might have hit a trademark hurdle, with rival Emami claiming it has already launched ‘Emami Glow & Handsome’ digitally.
Within a pair of hours of HUL saying the brand new title for Fair & Lovely, its flagship skincare product, Emami issued an announcement expressing shock over the choice to rename the men’s vary as ‘Glow & Handsome’. Emami has termed HUL’s transfer as an “unfair business practice”. Emami director Mohan Goenka, who takes care of the brand, advised TOI, “We will surely take legal action.”
Launched in 2004, Emami’s Fair & Handsome created the men’s equity class in India, even whereas Fair & Lovely was a dominant equity cream in the market. Market analysis revealed that males had been frequent customers of equity lotions, which had been in any other case focused at girls. HUL then got here up with a variety of merchandise for males beneath ‘Fair & Lovely Men’. The men’s equity market dimension is now roughly Rs 450-500 crore, and Emami is a pacesetter with 65% share.
Emami mentioned, “We are shocked to learn of HUL’s decision to rename its men’s range of Fair & Lovely as ‘Glow & Handsome’. Emami, maker of ‘Fair and Handsome’ brand of men’s grooming products, is the market leader in men’s fairness cream with legal ownership of the trademarks. We have already launched a week ago our brand ‘Emami Glow & Handsome’ digitally and necessary application has already been made to the relevant authorities.” Emami mentioned HUL’s transfer (to brand its men’s vary as ‘Glow & Handsome’) “goes to prove Fair and Handsome’s strong brand equity in the market that the competition is wary of”.
In response to TOI’s question on the matter, an HUL spokesperson mentioned, “We don’t wish to make any comment on the statement made by them (Emami). We are fully conscious of our rights and our position. We will protect it fully in all appropriate forums.”MZM Legal managing associate Zulfiquar Memon mentioned, “Emami’s objection to HUL’s using of the name stems from the fact that Emami claims ownership to the trademark. It would be interesting to know at what stage is Emami’s trademark application for the said name at the moment. It is only after that can one ascertain how good a case Emami has to protect the brand. HUL, on the other hand, can only put up a strong defence to this objection if they already have the said trademark registered in their name or if they have filed for this name, before Emami. The respective legal teams will need to notify each other and probe into this further.”
Sources mentioned Emami utilized for the trademark ‘Emami Glow & Handsome’ over a month in the past. It was solely two weeks in the past, on June 17, that HUL had approached the Controller General of Patent Design & Trademark to register the title ‘Glow & Lovely’, as reported by businesses earlier.
In the assertion saying the brand new brand title for Fair & Lovely, HUL mentioned the title change is the following step in the evolution of its skincare portfolio to “a more inclusive vision of positive beauty”. “Over the next few months, Glow & Lovely will be on the shelves, and future innovations will deliver on this new proposition,” the corporate mentioned.
Following rising criticism towards racism, Johnson & Johnson determined to discontinue its equity vary, whereas Unilever and L’Oreal mentioned they might cease utilizing phrases like ‘fair/fairness’, ‘white/whitening’ and ‘light/lightening’ for his or her private merchandise.
Over the final couple of years, HUL had modified the proposition of Fair & Lovely from equity to ‘glow’. It had eliminated the cameo with two faces in addition to the shade guides from the packaging of Fair & Lovely. HUL CMD Sanjiv Mehta reiterated on the firm’s annual normal assembly on Tuesday that the transfer to rebrand Fair & Lovely was a properly thought-out determination, which was in the works for some time now.
Fair & Lovely has an over 40% share of the face care market, and it’s among the many prime 5 manufacturers in HUL’s portfolio, the others being Lifebuoy, Surf Excel, Wheel and Brooke Bond. The marketplace for face lotions in India is roughly Rs 6,000 crore. Beauty and private care, which homes the Fair & Lovely brand, contributes 45% to HUL’s annual revenues for about Rs 39,000 crore.
With Emami launching ‘Emami Glow & Handsome’ digitally, the corporate too seems to be transferring away from phrases like ‘fair’ in its product vary. However, this might not be independently confirmed. Last week, when TOI requested Emami whether or not it could observe HUL’s transfer to drop ‘fair’ from the product title, an Emami spokesperson had mentioned, “We, as responsible corporate citizens, value consumer sentiments and take cognizance of the holistic approach that is required to be taken to address their needs. We are studying all implications currently and evaluating internally to decide our next course of action.”
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