Delhi HC backs Zydus in trademark row

New Delhi: A division bench of the Delhi High Court upheld its single-judge order that restrained Alder Biochem from manufacturing, selling, advertising and using the trade name 'Alder Biochem' or any mark that is deceptively similar to Zydus Healthcare's trademark 'Biochem'.

The bench, comprising justices Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Anish Dayal, said that Alder Biochem's contention that 'Biochem' was widely used by more than 100 entities, thereby demonstrating that the term was "publici juris" (belonging to the public) and merely a combination of the words biology and chemistry, incapable of exclusive appropriation, was prima facie belied by the fact that Zydus Healthcare was the registered proprietor of the mark since 1959 and had been using it since 1968.