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Informist, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026

 

--HC upholds bar on Noviets Pharma using 'Noviets' on Novartis plea 

 

By Surya Tripathi

 

NEW DELHI – A division bench of the Delhi High Court has upheld an order passed by a single judge of the court restraining Noviets Pharma and others from using the term 'Noviets', which is similar to Novartis AG and Novartis India Ltd.'s trademark 'Novartis', in their corporate and other names.

 

Both parties manufacture pharmaceutical products, with Noviets Pharma dealing in veterinary pharmaceutical products, said the division bench. On the face of it, it can be said that there would be confusion and deception between the terms 'Novartis' and 'Noviets', it said.

 

The plea of Noviets Pharma that 'Nov' is generic to the trade would not appeal to the court, at least in the current case, said the bench of Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, because Novartis's usage of the trademark began in 1996, with sales of INR 3.67 billion in 2022-23 (Apr-Mar). 'Novartis' is a reputed mark, at least in pharmaceutical products, the bench said.

 

The bench also rejected Noviets Pharma's argument that 'Noviets' is used as the corporate entity while its pharmaceutical products are being marketed under a separate trade name and through business-to-business channels involving distributors, stockists, and others. "This plea is not really convincing to us in view of the detailed reasons given by the learned single judge and also the fact that 'Novartis' has been declared as a well-known mark and is included in WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation) and INDRP (IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) proceedings," the court said.

 

The issue involves the names of the two pharmaceutical companies, of which the name Novartis clearly has prior use, the bench said. On the other hand, Noviets Pharma is a subsequent user of the mark, without adequate explanation as to why such mark was adopted by it. "...Our findings in the present order are prima facie and the same shall be subject to final decision in the suit post trial," the bench said. "The learned single judge shall decide the suit without being influenced by any observations made by us in this judgment."

 

Novartis AG and Novartis India had moved the single-judge bench of the court to restrain Noviets Pharma from using 'Noviets' in its corporate name. Novartis AG and Novartis India had argued that Noviets Pharma had merely replaced a few letters, changing 'AR' to 'IE' and removing the letter 'I', to create a visual and phonetic imitation intended to mislead consumers. This was a dishonest attempt to misappropriate their established goodwill and reputation, Novartis AG and Novartis India said. 

 

Noviets Pharma said its mark was not similar to Novartis AG and Novartis India. Both marks are phonetically distinct and produce different phonetical impressions, it said. Novartis AG and Novartis India cannot claim exclusivity over the composite mark just because it begins with the prefix 'Nov', nor can the finding of deceptive similarity be sustained solely on that basis once the marks are compared as a whole, it said.

 

Tuesday, shares of Novartis India Ltd. ended at INR 1,596.50 on the National Stock Exchange, up 0.5% from Monday.  End  

 

Edited by Himanshi Gupta

 

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