The well known, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. has finally
won a case pertaining to a trade mark issue with a New Delhi-based firm, Reddy
Pharmaceutical Limited. As a result, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board
(IPAB) has ordered the Registrar of Trademarks to remove the registered trade
mark, ‘Reddy’ of the Reddy Pharmaceutical Limited.
The order was passed based on an application filed
by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, Hyderabad which was established in the year
1984 by K. Anji Reddy with a aim to develop and deliver innovative healthcare
products. The same year, they adopted “Dr. Reddy’s” as their trademark and have
been using it since then. The firm applied for registration in 2001. But, the
Registrar of Trade Marks had granted registration with the name “Reddy” to
Reddy Pharmaceutical Limited in 2005 for the purpose of ‘medicinal and
pharmaceutical preparations’.
In their application before the IPAB, Dr. Reddy’s
Laboratories requested to remove the mark, ‘Reddy’, as the adoption was dishonest
and would cause confusion amongst the consumers. But, to counter the
accusations, Reddy Pharmaceutical submitted that the trade mark was chosen after
the name of their founder Konda Raghu Rami Reddi and they claimed to have been
engaged in the manufacturing and marketing of pharma products since 1996.
Based on the facts, the bench comprising of S. Usha, Vice-Chairman and V.Ravi, member
declared that the adopted mark ‘Reddy’ was an attempt to deceive the consumers.
The bench, thus, said that the mark should no longer remain in the register.
