In Sunfeast-Maggi dispute, Madras HC says no one can claim monopoly over 'Magic Masala'

The Madras High Court on Monday dismissed the suit filed by Indian FMCG giant ITC Limited against global foods behemoth Nestle saying that no one could claim a monopoly over the phrase 'Magic Masala', which was a term widely used in the food marketing business.

The suit filed by Sunfeast was to claim exclusive rights over the term 'Magic Masala' for its brand of noodles- "Sunfeast Yippiee!' which it had been using since 2010 asking for an injunction against Nestle for using the term 'Magical Masala' to market its Maggi Noodles since 2013, claiming that it was a spin-off on their catchphrase. 

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The bench of Justice C Saravanan remarked that the term "magic" or "masala" are common words in the Indian food industry and that no one can claim monopoly over them. "It is a common name for describing the mixture of spice in majority of the Indian languages. Therefore, it can never be appropriated," the Court observed.

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The Court added that ITC could only claim exclusivity over the phrase had it become a "distinctive mark" entitled for protection
being used by them uninterrupted over a long period of time. It remarked that for decades now, potato chips brand Lays was using that phrase even before ITC hence, there was no legitimate claim of exclusivity of ITC's Sunfeast over it. 

While the court acknowledged that Maggi might have drawn inspiration from ITC for the term, it could not in itself amount to "passing off." It also added that ITC had never intended to use the term "Magic Masala" as a trademark in the first place, they only used it to discern between different flavours, hence their claim for exclusivity or an injunction against Maggi's usage of the term did not hold ground.

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