Imitating baby skin cream wiped from market

Procompetencia, the Venezuelan antitrust and unfair competition authority, has found three manufacturers of baby cream guilty of imitating the leading nappy rash cream on the market produced by Laboratorias Cero CA (Resolution SPPLC/0038-2006, September 6 2006).

Procompetencia held that Crema 10 sold by Jordan Cosmetics SA, Corporacíon Raisma CA and Major Diez CA was confusingly similar to Cero's Crema 0 for the following reasons:

• Crema 10, like Crema 0, was sold in a white jar featuring the name of the product in red letters, with small animals decorating the jar;
  
  
• the original version of Crema 10, like the original Crema 0, used the colour blue on the packaging, while the aloe version of both products was denoted by the use of green; and
  
  
• the price of Crema 10 was very similar to that of Crema 0.

In addition, the '0' in the name Crema 10 was bigger than the '1', thus making the name look very similar to 'Crema 0'.

Procompetencia ordered the removal of Crema 10 from the market and ordered the defendants to pay Cero economic damages.

Mónica Granadillo, Estudio Antequera Parilli & Rodríguez, Caracas