The longstanding legal battle between Dabur India and prominent YouTuber Dhruv Rathee concluded on June 18, as Rathee consented to blur Dabur’s Real fruit juice packaging in his videos.
The conflict originated from a video Rathee uploaded on his YouTube channel, highlighting the health impacts of packaged fruit juices compared to fresh ones. The video specifically showcased the logo and trademark of “REAL” fruit juice, which led Dabur to file a lawsuit.
Justice Krishna Rao of the Calcutta High Court dismissed the suit after noting the agreement between both parties. Rathee proposed to blur the Real fruit juice packaging in the video, a suggestion he communicated via email on March 15, 2024. Dabur accepted this proposal on March 19, 2024. Subsequently, Rathee’s legal team forwarded a revised video on June 12, 2024, featuring generic fruit juice packaging.
Justice Rao recorded in the June 18 order that Dabur agreed to the modifications made by Rathee, effectively removing any reference to Real’s trademarks, copyright, labels, packaging, and advertisements. With these changes, Dabur had no further objections to the video’s circulation on social media.
“The parties have agreed that no useful purpose would be served by keeping the suit and the applications therein pending, and the suit itself may be disposed of in terms of the settlement agreed between the plaintiff and the defendant,” stated the Court.
Initially, Dabur moved the Court objecting to Rathee’s use of the “REAL” trademarks in his video. In March 2023, Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur ordered YouTube and other social media platforms to block public access to the video, claiming that Rathee had overstepped by comparing Real juice with fresh juices and discussing its health impacts, particularly on children.
The case saw a number of legal representatives: Advocates Debnath Ghosh, Biswaroop Mukherjee, Abir Debnath, and Pradipta Bose represented Dabur India. Senior Advocate Ranjan Bachawat, along with advocates Satyaki Mukherjee, Nakul Gandhi, Yash Vardhan Deora, Eshna Kumar, and Mujeeb Rahman, represented Dhruv Rathee. Advocates Neel Mason, Phiroze Edulji, Ankit Rastogi, Roustavi Mukherjee, and Priyanka Bhattacharya represented YouTube.
