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Category: International Trade Sub-category: Foreign Trade by Country
Document type: article
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) last month ruled in favour of pharmaceuticals giant Adcock Ingram over a trademark dispute with competitor Cipla Medpro.
The companies locked horns over their registered trademarks for the generic of Lisinopril, which is used to treat mild to moderate hypertension and certain cardiac conditions. Lisinopril was originally patented by international pharmaceuticals heavyweight Merck & Co. in 1989.
The SCA also confirmed the right of patients in South Africa to be involved in the process of deciding on their medication, even prescription medication, a decision that countered Cipla's defence.
Last year, Adcock Ingram submitted an application to the Pretoria High Court to have Cipla's registration for its Zemax trademark revoked, arguing that it was too similar to Adcock Ingram's Zetomax trademark, which was registered before Zemax.
The High Court dismissed Adcock Ingram's application, ruling in favour of Cipla. Adcock Ingram then appealed the decision with the SCA, which overturned the High Court ruling last month and ordered that Cipla's Zemax trademark be removed from the Register of Trademarks.
Cipla argued that both Zetomax and Zemax can only be obtained with a doctor's prescription and that, because doctors and pharmacists are trained to know about the products, it is not possible for them to confuse the two competing trademarks.
Cipla's argument was supported by a 1983 Pretoria High Court decision that found a patient's prescription to be the sole responsibility of the doctor and not the patient.
In the pharmaceutical world, the 'trademarks' refer specifically to the brand of a particular product and the name that identifies it. Companies who trademark their products are entitled to protect that brand name for the rest of the product's existence.
'Patents', however, which protect new ideas and innovations, are limited to a 20-year period. In the medical and pharmaceuticals world, patents protect products, including the active ingredients in a particular medicine, new pharmaceutical formulations and medical devices.
The SCA ruling finalised the ongoing debate about whether the views of patients should be taken into account, specifically with regard to the questionable confusion between pharmaceutical brands.
External Links:
Adcock Ingram: official site.
Cipla Medpro: official site.
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