JS Health owner claims competitor has ‘unhealthy obsession’ with her in Federal Court fight

The glamorous owner of a multimillion-dollar wellness brand claims a competitor went on a campaign against her due to his ‘unhealthy obsession’.

Lawyers representing a wellness multi-millionaire say she has suffered a “campaign of denigration” on social media after she declared war on a rival vitamins mogul who she claims has an “unhealthy obsession with her”, a court has been told.

Jessica Sepel, owner of $426m business JSHealth Vitamins, launched a litigation case over copyright, injurious falsehood, and misleading and deceptive conduct in the Federal Court against Life Botanics owner Jimmy Seervai, who claims to have created identical products at half the price.

In what he calls a marketing tactic, Mr Seervai takes to Instagram to make claims his rival has been overcharging customers through “brand tax”.

After multiple attempts to reason with Mr Seervai through letters of demand, Ms Sepel is now suing for copyright infringement, claiming Life Botanics has been attacking her brand to sell its products for a cheaper price.

Jessica Sepel, owner of JS Health, claims a competitor has an ‘unhealthy obsession’ with her. Picture: Instagram

In a statement of claim, Ms Sepel put forward 54 instances she alleged Mr Seervai “attacked” her JS Health on Instagram and puts his “identical” product forward as an alternative.

Ms Sepel rejects the claims that both companies offer the same products.

“(Life Botanics has) in trade or commerce, engaged in conduct which is misleading or deceptive,” the statement of claim says.

“ (JSHealth) have suffered loss and damage and will, unless such acts and conduct are permanently restrained, continue to suffer loss and damage.”

In a Federal Court hearing on Thursday, high-profile silk Sue Chrysanthou SC, representing JS Health, told the court Mr Seervai appeared on 60 Minutes in June and spoke about the case “without any notice to us”.

Ms Chrysanthou sought intervention from the court to stop Mr Seervai from talking about Ms Sepel and JS Health until the conclusion of the proceedings.

In the 60 Minutes segment, Mr Seervai talked about going to the Federal Court for the first time and said there were “people trying to shut him down” through legal procedures.

Ms Sepel is taking Jimmy Seervai, owner of Life Botanics, to court for copyright issues. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

He also branded his products as the “Aldi version of the wellness industry”.

“My client has suffered personally a campaign … of denigration on social media and now the Nine Network by the individual respondent who appears to have an unhealthy obsession with her,” Ms Chrysanthou said.

“He takes her posts and puts them on his own (Instagram) and mocks her, harasses her in a way which is quite uncalled for.”

The court was told Mr Seervai had also made a series of Instagram posts since the beginning of the legal proceedings, which Ms Chrysanthou described as “mocking” her client.

In some of the posts Mr Seervai wrote that JS Health was “scared of our comparison marketing”, “didn’t want the truth to come out” and “get the popcorn ready for court”.

“Can’t wait to see you in court, we’ve got a stack of stuff ready for you guys, can’t hide behind your PR team everyone get your popcorn ready,” one of the posts read, the court was told.

Ms Chrysanthou said the posts, as well as the 60 Minutes broadcast, showed her client to be an “elitist rich person ripping off vulnerable people”.

Mr Seervai uses marketing which compares his products to JS Health. Picture: Instagram

“What this broadcast is saying is my client … doesn’t like the competition and she has brought unmeritorious court proceedings to shut down this ‘poor vulnerable man from Nowra who is just doing the hard yards, a poor country boy who is trying to give good prices to the consumer’,” Ms Chrysanthou said.

“The notion is that (Ms Sepel) was the Goliath in a David and Goliath dispute against a poor bloke from Nowra when the evidence is Mr Seervai personally owns properties worth over $10m.”

Mr Seervai’s legal representative, Ed Heerey KC, told the court both sides engaged in “distasteful discourse”.

Ms Chrysanthou disagreed with the claim and said: “My clients should not have to, coming properly before the court, suffer this sideshow”.

Justice Anna Katzmann imposed a new undertaking which states Mr Seervai cannot talk about Ms Sepel or the business until the end of the proceedings.

Ms Sepel was not at court on Thursday.

She warned Mr Heerey to tell his client to adhere to them and “how seriously the court will regard” a breach.

“I am indebted to you and your team for finally seeing some sense,” Judge Katzmann said before adjourning the proceedings.

The matter will go to trial over the copyright issues in June 2024.

JS Health was founded by Ms Sepel and her husband Dean Steingold in 2012 and offers supplements, skincare, marine collagen and plant-based protein powders, while Life Botanics entered the market in recent years.

Ms Sepel is demanding Life Botanics stop from claiming JS Health uses “brand tax”, stop claiming their products are identical and pay her costs and damages.