Hll Moves Sc Over New Pepsodent

Hindustan Lever Ltd has moved the Supreme Court against the order of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission reportedly asking it to discontinue its advertisement campaign comparing its product New Peps-odent with Colgate-Palmolives Colgate Dental Cream.

The appeal will be heard on Monday by a division bench consisting of Justice S P Bharucha and Justice S V Khare. The court will also hear arguments on whether to stay the commissions order or not. Colgate-Palmolive, which originally moved the commission seeking an injunction against the ads, will also be heard as it has filed a caveat. Colgate moved the petition before the commission alleging that the HLL ad had adversely compared its product with New Pepsodent.

 

It also asserted that the claim that New Pepsodent was 102 per cent superior to its rival was also misleading. The commission has decided to set up an expert committee to examine the contrary claims of the two companies.

The toothpaste war between the two giant firms sharing the Rs 1,072 crore market has also extended to the field of contempt of court. According to Colgate, HLL had persisted in its advertisement even after the commissions order.

When it moved the commission with a contempt petition, it issued notice to HLL. This case will be heard in January. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will hear the appeal raising the substantial issues.