The manufacturer of Nurofen faces millions of dollars in fines but will be allowed to sell painkillers marketed as targeting specific types of pain for another 12 months after a court found they were misleading to customers.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took Reckitt Benckiser to the Federal Court in March over products in its Nurofen specific-pain range, which are advertised as being specially formulated to treat either back pain, period pain, migraines or tension headaches.

The ACCC says the $1.7 million fine is inadequate.

The consumer watchdog argued that in reality, each of the products had exactly the same active ingredient – 342 milligrams of ibuprofen lysine – and that none were any better at treating one type of pain than other products in the range.

Nurofen spokeswoman Montse Pena said the company had not set out to mislead consumers.