The Supreme Court has directed Zenlab India and Latros Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd. to maintain status quo in their trademark dispute over “ZENOVIT”. The Court also asked the trial court to decide the pending suits as quickly as possible.
A Bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe heard Zenlab’s appeal against the Bombay High Court’s judgment dated February 16, 2022. That judgment granted an injunction in favour of Latros.
The Court said, “In view of above, we are of the opinion that interest of justice would be subserved if we confirm the stay order passed by this Court and direct that the parties shall maintain status quo as of today and further direct the trial Court to take up and dispose of both the suits expeditiously,”
On April 4, 2022, while issuing notice in the appeal, the Supreme Court stayed the operation of the Bombay High Court’s injunction order.
Trademark Dispute Over “ZENOVIT”
The dispute concerns the trademark “ZENOVIT”. The mark covers pharmaceutical products such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidant formulations.
Latros Pharmaceuticals claimed rights over the mark based on its trademark registration. That claim traces back to an application filed on March 10, 1989. The authorities granted the registration on April 15, 1994. The registration continues to remain valid and subsisting.
Latros alleged that Zenlab started making and selling similar pharmaceutical products under the identical mark “ZENOVIT”. It claimed the mark was deceptively similar to its registered trademark and likely to confuse consumers.
Proceedings Before Lower Courts
Latros sent cease-and-desist notices in November 2011 and January 2012. It later filed a trademark infringement suit before the District Court at Pune in December 2014. It sought an injunction and other relief.
Zenlab argued that it had used the mark since 2008. On that basis, it claimed to be the prior user in the market.
The Bombay High Court granted an injunction in favour of Latros. It restrained Zenlab from using the mark.
Supreme Court’s View
The Supreme Court noted that Zenlab had used the trademark from 2008 until the High Court granted the injunction. Keeping this in mind, the Court held that the interest of justice favoured maintaining status quo until the dispute is finally decided.
The Court therefore allowed the appeal. It also directed both parties to maintain status quo pending disposal of the suits.
Appearance
For the petitioner, Senior Advocate Anand Sanjay M. Nuli appeared with Advocates Nikhilesh Kumar, Mahesh Kumar, Pratyaksh Kumar, Sriniwasan M. Bogisam, Sanjay Sharma, Saravjeet Singh, Lalit Belwal, Ashish Belwal, Yashica Rawal, Devika Khanna, Vmz Chambers, AOR, and Sandeep Singh, AOR.
For the respondent, Advocates Lalit Chauhan, Laxmi Chauhan, Manish Yadav, Anith Jonshan, Hiren Kamod, Mrinal Gopal Elker, AOR Shreeyash Uday Lalit, Himanshu Vats, Angad Pahal, Lavam Tyagi, Ishita Khurana, Aviral Kumar Mishra, Ishaan George, and Santosh Kumar Prasad appeared.
Case Title: ZENLAB INDIA (NOW KNOWN AS ZENLAB ETHICA LTD. & ANR.) VS LATROS PHARMACEUTICALS PRIVATE LTD
Case Number: SLP (C) 3868 OF 2022
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