The Hindu Business Line : Brand protection, a major concern for big groups

One of the most abused products of the Tata Group continues to be its salt brand, which can be easily duplicated, said Mr Raghavan R. Shastri, General Manager and Deputy Company Secretary, Tata Sons.

"We still find it extremely difficult to fight counterfeiting of our salt brand. After all, it is easy for anyone to make packaged salt with our brand name," said Mr Shastri.

Safeguarding domain

The biggest issue today is protecting our domain name, since the brand has been misused across several categories. In the recent past, the Tata Group has also taken the trouble to protect its brand name on the Internet, Mr Shastri said. He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a FICCI organised seminar on brand protection.

Ms Juthika Choksi Hariharan, Manager - Legal, Tata Sons, said, "We have already ensured that there are no violations on the Tata Web site name. In fact, we have also changed our domain name so that there is no possibility of duplication."

Need new law

There are other FMCG companies who have also been feeling the heat from counterfeit products. When P&G saw the sales from its Vicks brand dipping by nearly 50 per cent, it decided to take up the cudgels on behalf of the industry.

Mr Ashok Chhabra, Executive Director, P&G India, says, "There is a need for new legislation and there should be a counterfeiting act which needs to be all-encompassing." At the same time, the companies need to equip themselves to handle the issue of counterfeiting. "Companies need to function as multifunction teams and the top management needs to get more involved in handling these cases," he said.

HLL woes

HLL has also been fighting counterfeits for its largest selling skincare brand, Fair & Lovely (FAL). According to Mr Ashok Gupta, Vice-President - Legal, HLL, "FAL is the most affected brand and special efforts to stop counterfeiting have been put behind the brand."

Estimates made by market research agency — AC Nielsen ORG Marg peg the FMCG sector's loss due to counterfeiting at Rs 2,600 crore per annum.