Mumbai: Nestle India is planning to appeal against a Madras High Court interim order over its product, ‘Maggi Magical Masala’, in a case filed by ITC. The latter said the Maggi variant was launched on the back of the success of its ‘Yippee! Magic Masala’, thereby infringing on its intellectual property rights.
The respondent has to withdraw the Maggi Magical Masala variant even if it plans to file an appeal, said ITC counsel Arun C Mohan of law firm Mohan Associates. The interim order that was passed on 29th April said although ITC’s instant noodle was marketed under the Sunfeast Yippee brand, it was popularly known as Magic Masala and ITC not only used the term first, but showed it had won market share against its rival with the product.
“When the word is only descriptive of the character of the goods, no protection can be claimed for use of such word, but if the word is known for its distinctiveness (and) secondary meaning, such word is entitled to get protection,” the order said.
An ITC spokesperson declined to comment on the issue. A spokesperson of Nestle India said: “We have seen the interim order and are preparing to file an appeal.” “The respondent cannot sell this variant till the time they win after making the appeal. The judgment is significant in the sense that an IPR infringement can be enforced even against a market leader,” Mohan said.
ITC had filed the suit against Nestle in 2013 when the latter launched Maggi Magical Masala. Having entered the instant noodle segment in 2010, ITC has been steadily gaining market share. As per market estimates, Nestle has around 72% volume share in instant noodles against ITC’s 18%. This is put at 74% and 17% by value, respectively. These figures could not be independently confirmed with Nestle and ITC.
While Maggi Magical Masala may not be the largest-selling variant, if it is withdrawn, ITC would have some room to gain additional market share, according to a senior executive with a leading food and grocery retail chain. It’s estimated that ITC’s instant noodle market share has been growing at three times the market rate.
