ITC has approached the Calcutta High Court alleging that Britannia Industries has copied the packaging and trade dress of its biscuit brand ‘Sunfeast Wowzers’ and has filed a case for infringement of intellectual property rights. The company has sought an injunction to restrain Britannia from manufacturing and selling the competing product, along with other reliefs.
The matter has come up for hearing before the bench of Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur, and the court has directed both parties to file affidavits while passing no ad-interim order, as per media reports.
ITC has launched its cheese-flavoured biscuit ‘Sunfeast Wowzers’ in late 2024 and has stated in its petition that it has become the number two player in the category with sales of around Rs 51 crore within 12 months. Britannia has later entered the segment with ‘50:50 Cheese Dipped’, which ITC has alleged carries a similar visual identity and packaging.
The cheese-flavoured biscuit segment has witnessed increased activity in India’s premium market, a category earlier popularised by ‘Malkist’ from Indonesia’s Mayora Group. ITC has stated in its filing that ‘Sunfeast Wowzers’ has been conceived with a distinctive packaging and trade dress, which it has considered an original artistic work protected under the Copyright Act, 1957.
ITC has cited the product’s commercial performance, advertising investments and consumer recognition to assert goodwill and exclusivity in the trade dress. It has argued that the pack features a distinctive combination of black and orange-yellow elements and has alleged that Britannia’s ‘50:50 Cheese Dipped’ packaging is identical or deceptively similar, potentially leading to consumer confusion.
Based on these claims, ITC has sought urgent ad-interim reliefs, including restraining Britannia from manufacturing, selling or advertising the disputed product.
