SUN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED Vs. MEGHMANI LIFESCIENCES LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The suit has been filed for infringement of trade mark and passing off.

(2.) The Plaintiff and Defendant No. 1 are pharmaceutical companies and Defendant No. 2 is the manufacturer of the impugned product for the Defendant No 1. The rival products are used for treatment of identical ailment i.e. heartburn and indigestion and have identical molecules namely Sodium Alginate, Sodium Biocarbonate and Calcium Carbonate sold in form of oral suspension/syrup.

(3.) The grievance is as regards the infringement of the Plaintiff's registered trade mark 'RACIRAFT' by the Defendant by use of its mark 'EsiRaft'. The trade mark "RACIRAFT" was conceived and adopted by the Plaintiff in January, 2022 by arbitrarily combining the words 'RACI' which is misspelling of the word 'RACY' which suggest full of zest and vigour and 'RAFT' which means foam like formation caused by sodium alginate. The Plaintiff's product used for treatment of heartburn and indigestion contains molecules namely Sodium Alginate, Sodium Bicarbonate and Calcium Carbonate and is sold in the form of oral suspension/ syrup. The Plaintiff applied for registration of its trade mark on 17/1/2022 and secured registration in Class 5. The annual sales turn over in respect of its product sold under the trade mark 'RACIRAFT' for the year 2022-2023 was around 11.85 Crores and for the year 2023-2024 was 24.49 Crores.