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Informist, Friday, Jul. 3, 2026

 

--HC bars Finecure from selling drugs similar to Sun Pharma arm's 'Pantocid'

 

By Surya Tripathi

 

NEW DELHI – The division bench of the Delhi High Court has restrained Finecure Pharmaceuticals Ltd. from manufacturing, selling and dealing with drugs with the name similar to Sun Pharma Laboratories Ltd.'s 'Pantocid', till the permanent injunction suit filed by the latter is decided. Sun Pharma Laboratories is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. The high court asked Finecure Pharmaceuticals to dispose of its existing stock with the name 'Pantopacid' within four months. 

 

For selling the existing stock, Finecure Pharmaceuticals will have to give an affidavit of its existing stock by giving all particulars of the batch number and manufacturing date within two weeks. Subject to filing of the affidavit, Finecure Pharmaceuticals will be at liberty to sell its existing stock to retailers within the time granted. However, effective from the date of this order, no further manufacturing or packaging of its drugs under the mark 'Pantopacid' and other formative marks would be permissible, the court said.

 

The division bench set aside its single judge order that had refused injunction in favour of Sun Pharma Laboratories. The single judge bench had said that there was a credible challenge raised by Finecure Pharmaceuticals against Sun Pharma Laboratories' trademark registration on 'Pantocid'. The single judge had held that Sun Pharma Laboratories did not disclose material facts such as a 2010 legal notice and a German entity's prior trademark registration, which amounts to concealment, and there was delay in approaching the court by the company.

 

The division bench said that the registration of the German entity's trademark had ceased to exist, even prior to filing of the suit by Sun Pharma Laboratories and, therefore, it could not have formed the basis for denial of interim injunction. Further, the interim injunction could not have been refused on non-mention of the legal notice and delay in filing the plea, said the court. There is no prima facie sustainable challenge raised by Finecure Pharmaceuticals to Sun Pharma Laboratories' trademark registration, and since the case of infringement was made out as recorded in the single judge's judgment, the injunction ought to have been granted in favour of the latter, said the court.

 

The court noted that in 2022-23, Finecure Pharmaceuticals recorded annual sales of INR 2.9 million with respect to 'Pantopacid'. Meanwhile, Sun Pharma Laboratories had recorded annual sales of INR 5.14 billion for the year 2021-22 with respect to 'Pantocid'. On the basis of these facts, the finding of the single judge that Finecure Pharmaceuticals had grown into a formidable market player between 2010 to 2023 is not borne out from the record, said the division bench. 

 

Sun Pharma Laboratories has been selling the pharmaceutical drug consisting of the molecule Pantoprazole, which is a Schedule H drug, under the trademark 'Pantocid' since the year 1999. 'Pantocid' is used for short-term treatment of acidity, acid-related diseases of the stomach and intestine such as heartburn, acid reflux, peptic ulcer disease, and some other stomach conditions associated with excessive acid production. Sun Pharma Laboratories' earliest registration for the trademark 'Pantocid' was in 1998 for pharmaceutical and medical preparation.

 

In April 2023, Sun Pharma Laboratories came across Finecure Pharmaceuticals' medicine under the mark 'Pantopacid' being sold on third party e-commerce interactive websites, and in Delhi. Thereafter, Sun Pharma Laboratories filed the suit, seeking permanent injunction against Finecure Pharmaceuticals.

 

At 1419 IST, shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. were up 2.0% at INR 1,908.60 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

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

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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