Delhi High Court orders takedown of Instagram video against Complan

The Delhi High Court on Thursday ordered Prashant Desai, an entrepreneur and health influencer, to take down a video he had uploaded on Instagram against powdered drink mix, Complan [Zydus Wellness Products Ltd. vs. Mr. Prashant Desai]..The order was passed on a trademark and copyright infringement suit filed by Zydus Wellness Products Ltd., an Ahmedabad-based company, which manufactures Complan.Justice Saurabh Banerjee held that Desai had indulged in a disparagement of Zydus’s registered trademark in Complan and ordered him to take down the video from all his social media handles within two weeks..Zydus filed the suit after it came across Desai's video on Instagram, which mentioned three brands, namely Bournivta, Complan, Horlicks.Zydus argued that this video is not only defamatory as it disparages Complan but also infringed its trademark and copyrights.In this video, the Instagrammer directly mentions Zydus’s product Complan by stating, "Bournivta, Complan, Horlicks, don’t mix them in the milk in the morning for your kids."The plea pointed out that Desai also reproduced Zydus’s ‘Complan Pista Badam Carton’ and urged the public not to use the same. In the video, he makes the statement "Don’t feed these to your kids, improve their health."Further, the plea objected to the caption of this instagram video as well, which said, “These three foods are spoiling your kid’s health. Avoiding these foods can improve your kid’s health drastically and I highly recommend you to not give these to your kids.".Zydus sent a message on Instagram to Desai, and then a legal notice to cease and desist from infringing its registered rights in Complan.However, instead of responding to Zydus’s message and legal notice, Desai posted a screenshot of the legal notice on his Instagram with the caption, "And then when we say that their products mostly contain sugar ... WE ARE SERVED."Zydus submitted that the Instagrammer has misrepresented factual, nutritional information and has taken advantage of the trust and lack of knowledge of consumers to spread false and misleading information about Complan. .Zydus was represented by Advocates Sagar Chandra, Shubhie Wahi and Ankita Seth.Prashant Desai was represented by Advocates Misha Rohatgi Mohta, Naul Mohta, Munaf Virjee, Vidhi Gupta, Riya Dhingra, Puneet Pathak, Ayush Kashyap, Amulya Upadhyay and Bharat Monga.