MUMBAI: Gillette’s M3Power razor's ad in the US seems to have got itself into some serious trouble.

In a competitive move, razor rivals Energizer Holdings's Schik razor filed a suit against Gillette on the premise that Gillette was adopting false advertising gimmicks for its M3 Power razor.

Judge Janet C. Hall of the United States District Court, Connecticut, on 1 June granted Schick a preliminary injunction against false advertising claims by Gillette for its M3Power razor. Judge Hall determined that Gillette's claim that the M3Power raises hair up and away from the skin was both "unsubstantiated and inaccurate" according to various agency reports."The court found that that the product demonstrations in Gillette's advertising are "greatly exaggerated" and "literally false."

Interestingly, Schick-Wilkinson Sword president Joe Lynch was quoted saying that the scientific evidence indicated that Gillette's claims for M3Power went well beyond the capabilities of its products and that he firmly believed that since the day the M3Power was launched a year ago, Gillette has deceived consumers about the performance of its product.

Although Gillette did not make an offical comment on the same , the ruling marks the latest turn in a patent fight involving No. 2 razor company Schick-Wilkinson Sword and market leader Gillette.

As a result of this preliminary injunction, Gillette will now have to immediately cease the claims that they have been making in the TVC's and print advertising. Also within 30 days, the razor major must also change packaging for the product and remove in-store displays that feature the disputed claims. It is unclear what measures Gillette will have forced upon them in other countries as the specific claims cited by Judge Hall appear to have been made on a global basis.

The razor rivals have been battling each other since Schick released new products -- including Quattro -- to try to cut into Gillette's dominance of the global shaving market.

Gillette has argued that any razor head with a group of three blades would be covered by its patent. Its Mach3 razor and M3Power, a pulsating razor based on Mach3, as well as the women's Venus razor, each have three blades.

Energizer's Quattro and the recently launched Quattro for Women each have four blades.