MOSCOW, May 25 - RAPSI. On June 20 the Moscow District Federal Commercial Court will hear Nestle Russia's appeal against the court's dismissal of its lawsuit against Unilever Rus over an advertising slogan.

Nestle holds that Unilever's "No magic!" advertising slogan discredits products manufactured by Nestle under the Maggi brand, since Maggi and "magiya" ("magic" in Russian) sound similar.

Nestle claims that Unilever's ad qualifies as unfair competition which affects Nestle's business reputation. The company has asked the court to prohibit Unilever from running the advertisement.

Unilever Rus, whose Knorr products are promoted in the disputed commercial, sees no bad faith product comparison, nor any element of unfair competition. The defendant produced several survey reports confirming that the commercial evokes no associations with Maggi among consumers and that the advert has had no impact on Nestle sales of similar products.

The court sided with the defendant. The Knorr commercials contain no statements which damage the plaintiffs honor, dignity or business reputation," reads the judgment.
Unilever is one of the world's leading consumer goods manufacturers. The company has been operating in Russia since 1992. It sells goods in more than 160 countries. The company has invested 600 million euro into the Russian economy.

Nestle SA was established in 1866 by Swiss pharmacist Henri Nestle. Nestle owns 456 factories in 84 countries, including 14 in Russia and produces a wide range of food products.