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Informist, Monday, Mar. 30, 2026

 

--HC bars Intas from selling cancer drug similar to Sun Pharma's 'Bevetex'

 

NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court has permanently restrained Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd. from manufacturing, selling and marketing Bevatas drug or any other drug similar in name to Sun Pharma Laboratories Ltd.'s Bevetex, a scheduled drug used for treatment of breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer. The high court held that Sun Pharma Laboratories, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, is the registered proprietor of the continuous as well as prior user of the Bevetex mark.

 

Sun Pharma Laboratories is not guilty of hoarding its Bevetex mark, said Justice Tejas Karia. Intas Pharmaceuticals' use of the Bevatas name amounts to infringement of Sun Pharma Laboratories' Bevetex mark, Justice Karia said. 

 

Public health is of paramount importance and there could be no leniency whatsoever with respect to subject matters concerning public health, and any likelihood of confusion between two drugs has to be avoided, the court said. The probability of confusion significantly increases when prescriptions are managed by pharmacists and patients or individuals purchasing medication on their behalf, it said.

 

Thus, the risk of confusion in dealing with pharmaceutical products arises not only at the prescribing stage but also during dispensing and purchase, the court said. Any potential for confusion at any point, particularly concerning pharmaceutical preparations, is sufficient to justify the issuance of an injunction, it said.

 

Intas Pharmaceuticals' mark Bevatas is structurally and phonetically similar to Sun Pharma's mark Bevetex, said the court. An average consumer of average intelligence and imperfect recollection is likely to get confused between the competing marks, it added.

 

The high court said that Sun Pharma Laboratories had obtained the registration for its trademark in 1983, while Intas Pharmaceuticals filed an application for the registration of the trademark in 2016, which has been opposed by the plaintiff. The opposition proceedings against registration of Intas Pharmaceuticals' Bevatas mark were pending, said the court.

 

The case has its genesis in Sun Pharma Laboratories coming across the publication of the application for registration of Bevatas mark filed by Intas Pharmaceuticals on a proposed to be used basis. In 2017, Sun Pharma Laboratories came across Intas Pharmaceuticals' drug under Bevatas name being sold in Delhi.

 

Intas Pharmaceuticals has unlawfully adopted the petitioner's mark, Sun Pharma Laboratories said. Such adoption of a similar name also amounts to unfair trade practice, unfair competition and dilution, said the petitioner. If the wrong drug is given to the cancer patient undergoing treatment, it could lead to disastrous consequences, and hence, it is in public interest that the use of Bevatas mark is restrained, said Sun Pharma Laboratories.

 

At 1155 IST, shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries were down 1.0% at INR 1,776.00 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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