Starting news article english 15 September 2011

Bode Chemie successfully takes action against Sagrotan advertising with the support of Clifford Chance

With the support of Clifford Chance, BODE Chemie GmbH, a subsidiary of PAUL HARTMANN AG, has successfully taken action against a Reckitt Benckiser Deutschland GmbH TV commercial and product claims for its hygiene sanitizer Sagrotan.

The Berlin regional court has prohibited the concrete representation of the obligatory warning of biocide in the TV advertisement in preliminary injunction proceedings. Furthermore, the statements "No.1 for doctors" and "without bleach and colorants it is especially suited to surfaces which come into contact with food" used in the disputed advertising were banned for being misleading. The disinfection and hygiene products from BODE are used in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industry, whereas the Sagrotan hygiene sanitizer is primarily intended for end consumers. Reckitt Benckiser had lodged an appeal against the decision before the Higher Regional Court of Berlin, however revoked this after a written opinion from the Higher Regional Court and accepted the preliminary injunction as a final decision.

The decision is of importance to other product advertising beyond this specific case, as the courts have further specified the requirements for the clarity of obligatory warnings according to the type of advertising medium. Accordingly, warnings in TV advertisements must be designed in such a way that even an inobservant spectator can recognize and understand them.

BODE Chemie GmbH was represented in both instances by partner Dr. Peter Dieners and counsel Dr. Gunnar Sachs (both Healthcare, Düsseldorf).