Chinese court wraps up condom controversy

A Chinese court has settled a long-standing dispute involving a Japanese company over who makes the world's thinnest latex condom, a prophylactics manufacturer in China said Wednesday.

Guangzhou United Rubber Products sued Japan's Okamoto for one yuan ($0.15) in an effort to settle the row.

In 2013, the Chinese company's Aoni condom entered the Guinness Book of World Records with a rubber measuring in at 0.03 millimetres thick.

But Okamoto, the previous record holder, refused to give in.

In September 2014, Guangzhou United Rubber asked a Chinese court to settle the measuring contest, saying Okamoto was still advertising its condoms as the world's thinnest.

The miniscule size of the claim led people to wonder whether the lawsuit was little more than a publicity stunt.

A spokeswoman for Guangzhou United Rubber denied the suggestion, saying it brought the action to "stop the other party's infringement" and chose the small amount because it did not want to become "entangled in the question of financial losses".

The court in Guangzhou ruled in the Chinese firm's favour on Monday, she said.

Okamoto had "cheated" consumers with its exaggerated claims, she said, adding that the Japanese competitors were "not just insulting our company, they were also insulting our consumers".

The taunts failed to get a rise out of Okamoto.

"We used the phrase 'the world's thinnest' for a few years after we were listed in the Guinness World Records (in 2012), but we do not anymore," an Okamoto spokesman told AFP.

"So, we don't think the ruling will have any effect on our finances."

The Tokyo-based condom maker, whose product lineup includes the "Big Boy", has not made the claim in its advertising for at least a year, he added.

But on Wednesday its English-language website still proclaimed that its "003 Platinum is, as long as we know, the World's Thinnest latex condom".

Japanese manufacturers, including Okamoto, produce even thinner condoms made from polyurethane.