The Delhi High Court has granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction in favour of Mankind Consumer Products, restraining Anondita Medicare Limited and entities operating certain Instagram pages from using social media content that allegedly copies the original artistic works and taglines of its ‘MANFORCE’ condom brand.
The Court has passed the order on February 25, 2026, after observing that a side-by-side comparison of the Instagram posts showed prima facie infringement of the plaintiff’s copyrights, as per media reports. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela has noted that the material on record depicts an “almost complete and identical imitation of the original artistic works and the tagline” of the plaintiff.
Mankind Consumer Products has instituted the suit against Anondita Medicare and others, alleging copyright infringement under Section 51 of the Copyright Act, 1957, along with passing off.
The company has approached the Court after allegedly discovering that eight social media posts were uploaded through Instagram handles including cobra_premium_0, cobra_premium_1 and cobra_premiumm. It has claimed that these posts “slavishly imitated” its original artistic works to promote similar goods, namely barrier contraceptives.
Mankind has alleged that the impugned content was a mala fide attempt to ride upon its goodwill and reputation and to misappropriate the digital brand equity built over several years.
According to the pleadings recorded in the order, the ‘MANFORCE’ mark was coined in 2001–02 and was extended to condoms in 2006–07. The Court has noted that sales of condoms under the mark in the financial year 2023–24 amounted to approximately Rs 311.26 crore. The order has also recorded that the plaintiff’s parent company extensively promoted the brand through digital influencers and celebrities such as Sunny Leone and Radhika Apte across social media platforms.
Examining the side-by-side comparisons reproduced in the order, the Court has observed that the two sets of artistic works demonstrated “almost complete and identical imitation”. Justice Gedela has specifically noted that in one instance the colour scheme was identical, while the words “A JUICY SURPRISE”, “FOR YOUR SWEETHEART” and “#FunWithFlavours” were used and placed in the same position, along with a half-open strawberry shaped like a heart at the bottom right portion of the pictorial.
Holding that a strong prima facie case had been made out and that irreparable loss and injury would be caused if relief were denied, the Court has restrained Anondita Medicare Limited and others, along with their dealers, distributors, stockists, agents, associates, employees and assigns, from reproducing, publishing or communicating the impugned works or any similar content.
The Court has further directed the defendants to temporarily remove the contested material from all identified URLs and across social media and e-commerce platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Amazon and Flipkart.
The matter will next come up before the Joint Registrar (Judicial) on April 15, 2026, for completion of service and pleadings, and thereafter before the Court on July 14, 2026. The parties sued in the case have been directed to file their written statements within 30 days of receiving the summons.
