American multinational drug company Pfizer, which claimed to have spent millions of dollars on research and development of Viagra, approached the high court complaining that its brand name was being used by Ajanta Pharma and they were selling Kamagra, which is confusingly similar to Viagra.
A division bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and S K Mishra allowed the settlement reached between both the pharma giants before Mr Amarjit Singh, appointed as mediator by the court.
The counsel for Pfizer disputed this settlement but the court allowed the agreement reached between both the pharma giants thereby allowing Ajanta Pharma to continue to sell its products by changing the colour and packaging of Kamagra.
The Court allowed the Pfizer to withdraw its suit, which was filed in 2001 against the Indian company, with a liberty to file a case if any fresh dispute arises.
According to the agreement, the Indian version, which is about eight times cheaper than the American version, will now come in a green colour instead of the blue tablets earlier and with green outer packaging.
Pfizer did not challenge the formulation of the Indian tablet as the active ingredient bulk drug, Sildenafil Citrate, is common in both the tablets and is easily available in India without violation of any law.
The American company had challenged the trademark Kamagra, stating that it is phonetically similar to Viagra but Mr Y N Bhardwaj, lawyer for Ajanta Pharma, argued that Kamagra is Kama+gra.
Kama, which is a Sanskrit word, and Agra also a Sanskrit word and is a suffix common to the pharma trade, thus Kamagra denotes the product.
He further contended that ‘via’ is an English word and ‘gra’ is common to Pharma trade, thus no exclusivity can be associated with the trademark Viagra.
A battery of lawyers, including Mr Bhardwaj, Mr Kamdar and Mr Rakesh Khanna appeared for the Indian company, while the American company was represented by lawyer Chander Lal. Similar suits are pending in the Delhi High Court.
An interim injunction sought by Pfizer to restrain Indian companies from making their products was refused by the court on April 10, 2002.
Earlier Pfizer took up the issue with Cadila in court on the basis of the trademark for the brand name Penegra. Penegra, as is clear, is deceptive and anyone will relate it to Viagra. Moreover, the Cadila product is reported to have a shape and look similar to Viagra.
Since the Drugs Controller General Of India approved sildenafil citrate, many other Indian companies have brought out related versions. Anjanta Pharma has marketed Kamagra, Cipla has marketed Silagra and Sun Pharma has brought out Edegra. Other Indian brands with the gra suffix are Erix from Unichem, Androz from Torrent, and Caverta from Ranbaxy.
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Tags : Intellectual Property Rights
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