Courts should be more strict in trademark violation cases of pharma products: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court recently observed that courts need to be more stringent and cautious while dealing with cases involving trademark or copyright infringement of pharmaceutical products [Mankind Pharma Limited Vs. Sanshiv Health Tech Private Limited & Anr.]..Justice Saurabh Banerjee added that in the interest of the general public, courts should take proactive steps to restrain trademark infringement in cases involving pharmaceutical products.The Court made the observation while issuing an order of an interim injunction to restrain Sanshiv Health Tech Private Limited from marketing its nutritional supplement, 'Calika-P.'The order was passed on a plea by Mankind Pharma Limited, which complained that Sanshiv Health was selling a product that was deceptively similar and infringing on the trademark of Mankind Pharma's 'Caldikind' and 'Caldikind-P' supplement. “This Court is to be more cautious and stringent while dealing with matters relating to such pharmaceutical products since there is a likelihood of confusion arising in the minds of general public if the competing trade dress, trade mark and design of the defendants are allowed to subsist and/ or continue,” the Court observed while granting Mankind Pharma interim relief.With this September 20 order, Sanshiv Health has been restrained from selling 'Calika P' until the next date of hearing. .In its plaint, Mankind had submitted that it had adopted the trademark ‘Caldikind’ for preparing calcium and zinc capsules in 2007. In 2017, they introduced another variant of 'Caldikind' under the trademark ‘Caldikind-P’ for children. Mankind submitted that it came to know that these trademarks were being infringed upon by Sanshiv Health in September 2024..The Court conducted a comparative analysis of both the competing products and arrived at the conclusion that Sanshiv Health was guilty of blatantly adopting and using the trade dress and design of Mankind.“Visually, there is no iota of difference inter se the trade dress/ label/ artwork/ trade mark for defendants’ (Sanshiv Health) 'CALIKA-P' syrup from that of the plaintiff (Mankind Pharma). Therefore, the likelihood of confusion is more since the defendants are also dealing in the same products through the same trade channels and are targeting the same set of customers. As the competing products are pharmaceutical preparations, it would be in interest of the general public if proactive steps are taken for restraining the defendants,” the Court held..The Court opined that Sanshiv Health is clearly attempting to ride upon the goodwill and reputation of Mankind Pharma’s product by using their trade-dress and trademark.“This seems to be a clear case of the defendants trying to come as near as possible to the plaintiff since there is no reason or occasion for them to have adopted the very same trade dress/ label/ artwork/ trade mark for their product 'CALIKA-P' syrup lest they want the members of the general public to believe that they and their products are emanating from the house of the plaintiff,” the Court held..It concluded that Mankind Pharma had made out a prima facie case for the grant of an interim injunction in its favour.Therefore, the Court has restrained Sanshiv Health from selling, offering for sale, advertising, or directly or indirectly dealing with the goods and services under the name ‘Calika – P’ or any other product identical or deceptively similar to ‘Caldikind’ till the next date of hearing.The matter is listed before the Joint Registrar for completion of pleadings on December 18 2024. The High Court is slated to hear the matter next on January 27, 2025..Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar, with Advocates Ankur Sangal, Ankit Arvind, Shashwat Rakshit and Nidhi Pathak represented Mankind Pharma. None appeared for Sanshiv Health. .[Read order]