Delhi High Court Grants Temporary Relief To Mankind: Restrains Copy Of MANFORCE Condom Artwork And Taglines

The Delhi High Court has recently granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction in favour of Mankind Consumer Products Private Limited, restraining Anondita Medicare Limited and the other entities behind the impugned Instagram pages from using social media content that allegedly copies the original artistic works and taglines of its popular 'MANFORCE' condom brand.

On February 25, 2026, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela observed that a side-by-side comparison of the Instagram posts “clearly would depict, prima facie, infringement of the copyrights of the plaintiff.” The Court said the material on record showed an “almost complete and identical imitation of the original artistic works and the tagline” of the plaintiff.

Mankind Consumer Products Private Limited had instituted the suit against Anondita Medicare Limited and others, alleging copyright infringement under Section 51 of the Copyright Act, 1957, as well as passing off.

The company approached the Court after allegedly discovering that eight social media posts had been uploaded through Instagram handles including cobra_premium_0, cobra_premium_1 and cobra_premiumm, which, it claimed, “slavishly imitated” its original artistic works to promote identical goods, namely barrier contraceptives.

Mankind Consumer Products Private Limited 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 extended to condoms in 2006-07. The Court noted that sales of condoms under the mark in the financial year 2023-24 amounted to approximately Rs 311.26 crore. The order further records 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 observed that the two sets of artistic works demonstrated “almost complete and identical imitation.”

Justice Gedela specifically noted that in one instance, not only was the colour scheme identical, but the words “A JUICY SURPRISE”, “FOR YOUR SWEETHEART” and “#FunWithFlavours” were identically used and placed at the same position, and even the half-open strawberry in the shape of a heart at the bottom right portion of the pictorial was identical.

Holding that a strong prima facie case had been made out and that “irreparable loss and injury would be caused… which may not be adequately compensative in monetary terms” if relief were denied, the Court restrained Anondita Medicare Limited and others, along with their dealers, distributors, stockists, agents, associates, employees and assigns, from reproducing, publishing or communicating to the public the impugned works or any similar content.

The Court further directed Anondita Medicare Limited and the other defendants arrayed in the suit 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), www.amazon.in and www.flipkart.com.

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.