The Delhi High Court in the case Glaxo Group Limited v. Precado Healthcare Private Limited And Anr observed that the level of tolerance allowable for confusion among consumers is very low in the pharmaceutical products which easily cannot be condoned.
The bench headed by Prathiba M Singh in the case was dealing with the suit filed by Glaxo Group Limited wherein seeking protection of the packaging and trade dress of its product name ‘Aufmentin’ used for pharmaceutical and medicinal preparations.
In the present case, the suit was filed against the Mumbai based pharmaceutical company namely Precado Healthcare Private Limited. Glaxo was aggrieved by the imitative packaging by the defendant’s launched under the mark ‘Amoxyduo 625’. Thus, the product was being manufactured by GG Nutrition’s, the company which is based in Himachal Pradesh.
The court in the case observed and has granted an ex-parte injunction in favour of Glaxo wherein restraining the defendants from manufacturing or selling any of the pharmaceutical preparations in the green and white packaging or any other packaging which is a colourable reproduction or a substantial imitation of the Glaxo’s product ‘AUGMENTIN.’
It has also been clarified by the said court that the Defendants were not injuncted from using the mark ‘AMOXYDUO’, so long as the same is in sold or being manufactured in a packaging which is not confused with or imitative of the Glaxo’s product packaging.
Adding to it, the court stated that the fact that the Glaxo’s product ‘AUGMENTIN’ is used both in rural area and urban area, the difference in the word mark ‘AUGMENTIN’ and ‘AMOXYDUO’ is insufficient in order to distinguish, due to the near identity in packaging.
The bench headed by Justice Singh in the case observed and has stated that there being the a reasonable possibility of even chemists dispensing the Defendants’ products as a replacement or the similar product with that of Glaxo.
The counsel, Advocate Ms. Tanya Varma, Advocate Mr. Vardan Anand Advocate Ms. Parkhi Rai appeared for the plaintiff.No appeared for counsel for defendants.