On Novartis suit, HC bars co from selling pdts as Novitas till Jul 14
This story was originally published at 17:35 IST on 5 February 2025
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NEW DELHI – Hearing a trademark infringement suit by Swiss multinational pharmaceutical corporation Novartis AG, the Delhi High Court restrained Novitas Lifesciences Ltd. from selling or dealing in medicinal preparations under the name "Novitas" or any other name that is deceptively similar to Novartis's trademark till the next date of hearing on Jul. 14.
The court clarified that Novitas Lifesciences could carry on its business by adopting any other name that is not identical or deceptively similar to that of the plaintiffs. There is no "due cause" or justifiable reason for the defendants to adopt a trademark that is almost identical to the plaintiffs' well-known trademark Novartis, the court said. The competing names, "Novartis" and "Novitas", are almost identical "ex-facie" and ought to be injuncted in the interest of the public, it said.
Confusingly similar trademarks in the field of pharmaceuticals cause greater injury as compared to products and services in other fields, the court said. "Hence, it is submitted (by the petitioner) that there is great urgency for issuance of ad-interim injunction order restraining the defendants from continuing with the infringing use of the impugned mark," it said, and issued summons to Novitas Lifesciences.
Novartis AG said its products are sold and marketed by Novartis India Ltd. under its well-known trademark Novartis, which it adopted in 1996. Novartis AG said Novitas Lifesciences is engaged in the manufacture and sale of pharmaceuticals and veterinary preparations to which it has no objection. The grievance is only that Novitas Lifesciences has adopted the mark "Novitas" as part of its trade name, which is visually and phonetically almost identical to Novartis.
On Wednesday, shares of Novartis India ended 0.4% lower at INR 850.10 on the BSE. End
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Rajeev Pai
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