Nutella is the spreadable cream par excellence, present for years in the homes of millions of families all over the world. It is therefore not surprising that many try to imitate her, but they do not always manage to get away with it. This is the case of India, where Ferrero has just obtained an important legal victory against a local producer responsible for counterfeit the famous jar.
The dispute was born in 2021, when the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration seized over 950 thousand packaging of a spreadable cream that looked like Nutella in a suspicious way, both in the content and in the package. In addition to the jars, the authorities have found hundreds of thousands of labels, caps and other packaging elements designed to mislead consumers. The responsible company is the MB Enterprises, based in Thaane, who tried to ride the wave of Ferrero success to sell a counterfeit product.
The verdict of the upper court of Delhi
Four years later, Delhi’s Alta Court has given reason to Ferrero, recognizing the violation of the brand and imposing compensation of 3 million rupees (about 30 thousand euros). But above all, he prohibited any future activity connected to the falsified version of the product to the MB Enterprises. A result that strengthens the protection of the Italian brand in one of the largest and most dynamic markets in the world, such as the Indian one.
The Court also highlighted the serious risk to public health, especially for children, derived from the presence of counterfeit foods without hygiene control, a behavior that has been qualified as bad faith and potential source of damage extended to the public and the reputation of the Ferrero brand.
To strengthen Ferrero’s position was also the recognition of the Nutella of the status of “Well -Known Trademark”, or “Noto brand”: a legal label that identifies brands with undisputed fame and strong identifiability. In other words, for Indian justice Nutella is not simply a brand among many, but it is the cocoa spreadable cream and hazelnut par excellence. This recognition will also have a relevant weight in any future disputes, both in India and in other countries.
When Ferrero lost
However, Ferrero does not always come out winning from the legal disputes. In 2024, in fact, the multinational had lost a cause in France against another Italian brand: Rigoni di Asiago. The pommel of the discord had been a spot of the hazelnut, direct competitor of Nutella, who underlined the absence of palm oil in the product and depicted a relaxed oranguto, symbol of the fight against deforestation.
Ferrero, who actually uses palm oil, had accused the comparative and disparaging advertising campaign. But the French court did not give her right, rather imposing compensation of about 10 thousand euros in Ferrero.
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