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Informist, Thursday, Apr. 2, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Bombay High Court has restrained Kenyan company Zawadi Healthcare Ltd. from manufacturing, selling and marketing drugs under the name 'Pantozed-40' or any other marks similar to Sun Pharma Laboratories Ltd.'s registered trademark 'Pantocid'. Sun Pharma Laboratories, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., has succeeded in making out a prima facie case for infringement of trade mark by use of the deceptively similar mark by Zawadi Healthcare, the court said. 

 

The use of the Pantocid mark by Sun Pharma Laboratories through its predecessor of the registered trade mark was prima facie shown from the year 1998 and there was no reason for Zawadi Healthcare to adopt a deceptively similar trade mark, which was registered under Kenyan laws in 2021, said the court. Zawadi Healthcare couldn't claim balance of convenience in its favour as Sun Pharma Laboratories' adoption of the mark through the predecessor was since the year 1998, the court said. Zawadi Healthcare had no registration in India and even its Kenyan registration was of recent origin, it said. 

 

Both the marks use the common prefix 'Panto', the court said, adding that Sun Pharma Laboratories used the suffix 'Cid' and Zawadi Healthcare used the suffix 'Zed'. When the marks are pronounced as a whole, it is likely that both would sound similar, it said. There was a strong likelihood of Zawadi Healthcare's drug being handed over when asked for Sun Pharma Laboratories' product, said the court. Being a medicinal preparation, even the slightest possibility of confusion is liable to be arrested, it added.

 

Sun Pharma Laboratories manufactures and sells Pantocid and its other variants in the form of injection, capsules and tablets. Pantocid is used for treating acid-related diseases of stomach and intestine. In 2023, Sun Pharma Laboratories became aware of Zawadi Healthcare's mark for its drug that treated the same ailment, being marketed in Kenya and manufactured by Syncom Formulations (India) Ltd. in Mumbai. An internet search revealed availability of the product of Zawadi Healthcare on third-party websites and there was no application filed for registration of its trademark, said Sun Pharma Laboratories. Consequently, Sun Pharma Laboratories moved the high court to restrain Zawadi Healthcare from selling the medicine under the same name.

 

At 1358 IST, shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. were down 2.5% at INR 1,685.00 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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