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Informist, Thursday, Apr. 23, 2026

 

--Bombay HC bars co from using Absun Pharma name on Sun Pharma's plea

 

By Surya Tripathi

 

NEW DELHI – The Bombay High Court has restrained a pharmaceutical company from using "Absun" or "Absun Pharma" in its name as it was similar to Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.'s registered trademarks "Sun" and "Sun Pharma". Observing that Absun Pharma was not an "innocent infringer", the high court asked the company to pay INR 1 million as costs to Sun Pharmaceutical for infringing the latter's registered trademarks.

 

Sun Pharmaceutical has shown its goodwill and it had registered its device mark for "Sun Pharma" in the year 1983 and its word marks in 2007, said the high court. Sufficient material is on record to show that trademarks of Sun Pharmaceutical were in the public domain much prior to the year 2007, when Absun Pharma started using its name and that the entity was very much aware about the plaintiff's mark, said the high court. 

 

The high court said Absun Pharma also manufactured medicinal and pharmaceutical products like Sun Pharmaceutical. In the light of the similarity between the marks and the nature of products sold by both parties, a case by Sun Pharmaceutical of misrepresentation on the part of Absun Pharma is made out, said the court.

 

Absun Pharma sought to wriggle out of the situation by claiming that its products were all exported to African countries and not a single product was sold in the domestic market, noted the high court. The defence taken by Absun Pharma cannot be accepted and even if its products are exported, it cannot escape the liability of having infringed upon the registered trademarks of Sun Pharmaceutical, said the court.

 

Further, Absun Pharma made an attempt to claim that the word "Absun" was a coined term, having no dictionary meaning and the alphabets "Ab" and "Sun" have been derived from the names of wife and son of the defendant's head, thereby claiming that such adoption is honest. The honesty of adoption is wholly irrelevant and the moment it is found that the marks are infringing the registered trademarks of Sun Pharmaceutical, the consequences must follow, without any reference to the alleged honest adoption of the same, said the court.

 

Since 1978, the predecessor of Sun Pharmaceutical and thereupon, the plaintiff openly, regularly and extensively used the trademark "Sun" and since 1993, it started using the trademark "Sun Pharma" in respect of its medicinal and pharmaceutical preparations, said the petitioner. These were used as house marks on labels, cartons and other packaging material, as also publicity and promotional material in connection with the medicinal and pharmaceutical preparations for the plaintiff, said Sun Pharmaceutical.

 

In 2012, Sun Pharmaceutical came across medicinal and pharmaceutical preparations of the defendant bearing the name "Absun Pharma". Seeking a permanent injunction against Absun Pharma, Sun Pharmaceutical filed a plea before the Bombay High Court.

 

Established in the year 2007, Absun Pharma is involved in allopathic medicines, ointments and other similar pharmaceutical products. Absun Pharma exports its products to Nigeria, Ghana, Congo, Sudan and Namibia.  

 

At 1247 IST, shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. were up 1.4% at INR 1,693.10 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

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

 

Edited by Vandana Hingorani

 

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