Justice Sanjeev Narula ruled that Pfizer coined the term Viagra which has no dictionary meaning and the company’s continuous and bona fide usage of the mark along with online presence, corroborated by comprehensive oral and documentary evidence of international registrations, regulatory approvals and inclusion of the word Viagra in the Oxford dictionary, successfully proves Pfizer’s status as the proprietor of the “VIAGRA” trademark.
“The culmination of these efforts in successful registration in India conclusively proves their [Pfizer’s] exclusive ownership as the registered proprietor of the trademark within Indian territory from the application date, establishing a legal presumption of validity and ownership that remains uncontested by the Defendants,” the Court said.
It, therefore, permanently restrained a company named Renovision Exports Private Limited from selling its homeopathic medicine under the trademark “VIGOURA”.
“The Defendants or anyone acting on their behalf are permanently restrained from manufacturing, selling, or offering for sale, marketing, advertising, or in any other manner using the mark “VIGOURA” or any mark deceptively similar to the Plaintiff’s trademark “VIAGRA” in relation to any of their goods as would amount to infringement or passing off of the Plaintiff’s registered mark ‘VIAGRA’,” the Court ordered.
Source: Barandbench
