US personal care giant Colgate Palm Oil Company has filed action against Hemas Manufacturing (Pte) Limited seeking a declaration of nullity of its Clogard brand which the US multinational claims is similar to their Colgate trade mark.

Hemas has declared this unconcluded legal action, filed in July 2000, in the prospectus for its forthcoming share issue and said that the case is not expected to have a significant impact on the group’s financial position.

The prospectus has said the probable outcome of the case cannot be commented upon "as per the representations made by the lawyers."