The Delhi High Court has referred to its Mediation and Conciliation Centre, the companies Parle Products Private Limited and Britannia Industries, for resolution of their dispute over the alleged disparaging advertisements of Britannia Milk Bikis against Parle-G biscuits.
The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh passed the order on November 22 on a suit filed by Parle, seeking permanent injunction against the alleged disparagement and infringement in the video and print advertisements of Britannia Milk Bikis products.
The High Court directed that till the time the settlement was explored between the parties, the two print advertisements of Britannia shall not be re-published.
It observed that a perusal of the two print advertisements clearly showed that the use of terms such as ‘G-NAHI’, ‘Adhura poshan’ clearly made a reference to Parle-G biscuits.
Justice Singh, while noting that Britannia was willing to amicably resolve the matter, appointed Senior Advocate J.P. Singh as the mediator. It further directed that the changes to be carried out in the impugned video advertisement, which was currently accessible online, should also be discussed during the process of mediation.
The High Court ordered for a comprehensive settlement mediation to be undertaken between the parties, stating that persons, who were competent enough to take decisions, should participate in the mediation proceedings, either physically or virtually.
Justice Singh, while noting that the matter was not settled, ordered the parties to report on the outcome of mediation by December 14. It further permitted Britannia to file reply on the application seeking injunction by December 12.
Parle had alleged in its suit that Britannia was disparaging the world famous product sold under the mark Parle-G by publicising ‘derogatory’ advertisement campaigns through television commercials, online broadcasts as well as through print media, including e-Papers and print newspapers.
As per Parle, the impugned advertisements by Britannia allegedly reflected their product in a bad light by suggesting that the Parle-G biscuits gave ‘adhoora poshan’ and were ‘sadharan’ biscuits.
(Case title: Parle Products Private Limited vs Britannia Industries Ltd)