Juice manufacturers Agros and Maspex in dispute over carrot derivative

Agros Fortuna, producer of Karotka brand carrot juices, is suing rival Maspe x for plagiarism and unfair competition after the company recently launched its range of Karotella juices. Agros, which launched Karotka back in 1991 an d claims the packaging design of Karotella is based on its own, is also seek ing an injunction against wholesalers who handle Karotella, in an attempt to prevent distribution until the case is resolved. "We spent zl.10 million on promoting Karotka last year, resulting in a 15% increase in sales. Now Maspe x wants to take advantage of our brand," commented Agros Fortuna president M arek Moczulski. Maspex, which already has a very popular carrot juice brand of its own, Kubus, claims the name Karotella is simply derived from 'karot', and insists that Agros cannot claim exclusive rights to a word meaning carro t. (Puls Biznesu, p. 4) T.J.