Trademark Infringement: Costing Companies their Revenue & Reputation

1
Trademark Infringement Costing Companies their
Revenue Reputation A trademark (mark) is a
word, phrase, or symbol that distinguishes a
companys products from the products of others.
Sometimes, mark protection can also extend beyond
words and symbols to include other product
aspects such as packaging and color. Registration
of a trademark provides exclusive rights to the
owner to use the marks for their business
activities. Sometimes, entities illegally create
marks deceptively similar to the registered ones
for monetary gains or for enhancing their brand
value. This unauthorized use leads to confusion
about the source of goods as well as business
losses. As a result, owner companies need to be
vigilant about trademark infringement by other
entities. Thus, the following article sheds
light on trademark infringement costing companies
their reputation and revenue. Moreover, it also
discusses how one can avoid such a scenario.
Also Read Trademark Infringement How to Avoid
it? Importance of Trademark Rights in
Pharmaceutical Industry Like every other
industry, companies in the pharmaceutical
industry register trademarks to protect their
products from trademark infringement. However,
despite the availability of these marks, many
rival companies produce similar-looking or
similar-sounding drugs. These not only affect the
buying decisions of patients but also impact the
revenue of owner companies. Furthermore, such
mark similarities can also cause fatalities in
patients purchasing the wrong drug. Thereby, this
tarnishes the reputation of owner companies.
2
Therefore, it is imperative for pharmaceutical
companies to constantly monitor their marks. This
helps in identifying potential infringement and
taking legal actions when required. Furthermore,
considering the importance of pharmaceutical
products and keeping the general public welfare
in mind, law courts must decide wisely. Also
Read A Guide to Trademark Registration in
India The Pharma Battle Glenmark Pharmaceuticals
vs. Curetech Skincare and Galpha
Laboratories Companies holding trademark rights
need to constantly monitor their marks to avoid
trademark infringement. Despite their efforts to
prevent infringement, many of them still find
their marks infringed. Moreover, we will discuss
a famous infringement case between 3
pharmaceutical companies Glenmark
Pharmaceuticals, Curetech Skincare, and Galpha
Laboratories. In this case, Glenmark
Pharmaceuticals was the complainant. That company
filed a lawsuit with the High Court of Bombay
against the two defendants Curetech Skincare
and Galpha Laboratories. Out of the two, Curetech
Skincare was simply a contract manufacturing
company that was producing products on Galphas
behalf. Hence, Curetech got the mark, labels, and
other details by Galpha under a contract
manufacturing deal. The complainant said both
defendants had sold products under the trademark
CLODID-B, which was similar to their CANDID-B,
anti-fungal product. The plaintiff also asserted
that the defendants had even replicated their
wordmark, color scheme, trade dress, and font
style. Interestingly, both defendants argued
that they had no intention of infringing the
plaintiffs trademark with their mark. Further,
they agreed to submit to the decree and stated
that they did not want to further contest the
lawsuit. Also Read How to Conduct Effective
Trademark Searches in the U.S The Big
Decision The court seemed satisfied with the
infringement arguments presented by the plaintiff
against the defendants. It started determining
the punishment for the defendants and pronouncing
a decision. Before that, the court considered the
fact that the defendants were habitual offenders.
As a result, it levied damages of over 1 crore
rupees on the defendants. Besides this, the
defendants had to immediately withdraw and
destroy all CLODID-B marked products from the
market. They had to file for cancellation of
manufacturing permissions for the infringing
products. Lastly, they had to refrain from
indulging in such illegal activities in the
future.
3
Also Trademark Variation Searches All You Need
to Know Case Analysis The court ruled in favor of
the plaintiff after finding conclusive evidence
against the defendants. Moreover, they also found
evidence of their blatant copies of the
plaintiffs products. Although the defendants
agreed to adhere to the courts orders, the
plaintiff brought one of the defendants previous
infringement activities. This led to the
replication of the marks of several renowned
pharmaceutical companies, to the courts notice.
Besides this, the court also found the same
defendant guilty of repeatedly providing
low-quality medicines to the public. Moreover,
the defendant also frequently violated the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations.
This meant that the defendant was a habitual law
offender as well. Therefore, we believe the
courts decision of imposing hefty punitive
damages instead of nominal ones was correct. This
is because such habitual offenders encourage
towards fearing infringing activities by imposing
hefty damages. Also Read How to Conduct Global
Trademark Searches Cost-effectively Trademark
Infringement Monitoring Services? Choose
TMReady Trademark Infringement of registered
marks is more common than one might think. While
companies go to great lengths to secure
trademarks, they usually fail to monitor them
regularly. Habitual infringers who are always on
the lookout for trademarks use such negligence to
their benefit. To identify and stop infringers on
time, companies must conduct regular trademark
monitoring. If you are one such company that is
seeking trademark monitoring services, you must
visit TMReady. Our Trademark Infringement
Monitoring service helps brands to keep an eye
out for trademark infringement around the world.
We leverage conventional and non-conventional
resources to track potential infringement while
also helping customers protect their valuable
brand names. The Editorial Team Other Related
Articles Trademark Filing Process A Complete
Overview Brand Infringement What is it How to
Avoid? The 5 Key Trademark Benefits