Delhi HC restrains Cipla from using Gluco-C or Gluco-D trademarks

The Delhi High Court (HC) on Monday passed an interim order restraining Prolyte, a brand owned by Cipla, to stop using the trademarks Gluco-C or Gluco-D, according to a report published by Moneycontrol.com.

Zydus Wellness Products, which manufactures and sells the energy drinks GLUCON-C and GLUCON-D, had filed a lawsuit against Cipla Health alleging that Cipla Health's trademarks were deceptively similar to its registered trademarks.

Cipla Health contested the lawsuit, arguing that Zydus Wellness's registrations for the trademarks GLUCON-C and GLUCON-D were invalid and were liable to be removed from the Register of Trademarks. Zydus said that Cipla had merely deleted an ‘N’ and Gluco-D is phonetically and visually similar to GLUCON-D. The firm said that even the hyphen between GLUCON and D has been replicated.

Zydus argued that Cipla also adopted the typography of a vertically slanting indented edge with the words ‘instant energy’ on a yellow background. Zydus said that it is a market leader in the energy drink segment, with its GLUCON-D Tangy Orange taking a market share of 74 per cent. The brand GLUCON-D has, therefore, become synonymous with the company.

The firm argued that Cipla started branding its Glucose product under Gluco C ++ and Gluco D ++, in order to create confusion in the minds of customers into believing an association between the products.

Cipla argued that the trademarks GLUCON-C and GLUCON-D are descriptive of the kind, quality, and intended purpose of the products they are used for. As such, the firm argued that these trademarks are not distinctive and cannot be registered as trademarks. Cipla hence contended that there could be no action from such entities for infringement of trademarks.

The court said that the word Prolyte prefixed to Gluco-C and Gluco-D does not distinguish it from GLUCON-D as ‘Gluco’ is the main ingredient in the name. The court therefore held that Gluco-D is similar to GLUCON-D and therefore, it infringes on Zydus’ registered trademark. The court further said that Zydus cannot argue that Cipla used the look and feel of GLUCON-D to fool customers as many health drinks have adopted a similar brand strategy for their products.