Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has granted ex-parte ad-interim relief in favour of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), restraining unknown individuals from manufacturing or selling counterfeit and contraband oral care products under its popular trademarks ‘Closeup’ and ‘Pepsodent’.
Justice Manish Pitale passed the order after HUL filed a John Doe suit against unidentified persons engaged in the distribution of counterfeit and illegally imported products bearing its registered trademarks and copyrighted trade dress. The defendants have been sued as “Ashok Kumar”, a standard practice in cases involving unidentified infringers.
In March 2025, HUL’s investigation teams discovered counterfeit products in Patnipura and Ranipura markets in Indore and Pandra Krishi Bazaar in Ranchi. According to the company, the fake products were nearly identical to the originals, misleading consumers into believing they were genuine.
“The copying was to such an extent that the counterfeit products appeared to be genuine,” HUL stated. Among the telltale signs of forgery was the misspelling of “Nepal” as “Napal” on the packaging.
HUL also found that genuine products manufactured at its Nepal facility for sale within that country were being illegally imported into India and sold alongside the counterfeit goods. These were classified as contraband products. The Court noted that while legally imported goods may not always amount to infringement, the illegal import of genuine products mixed with counterfeits posed a serious concern.
“But, since in the present case, the products being labeled as contraband in the pleadings, are goods that have been illegally imported into India for sale, mixed with such counterfeit products, the applicants are entitled to press for ex-parte ad-interim reliefs as against the said activity of the defendants also,” the Court observed.
Justice Pitale found that HUL had placed sufficient material on record to justify urgent relief. “Unless the ad-interim reliefs prayed by the applicants without notice are granted, they will continue to suffer grave and irreparable loss,” he said, adding that the balance of convenience clearly lay in HUL’s favour.
The Court appointed a Court Receiver and Additional Special Receivers to seize the impugned products and directed them to prepare separate inventories for counterfeit and contraband goods. It also permitted the seized goods to be stored at HUL’s premises in sealed condition for future reference.
