Delhi High Court comes to Intas rescue, stops Arinna Lifescience for trademark violation

AHMEDABAD: Delhi High Court gave relief to Ahmedabad-based drug maker, Intas Pharmaceuticals, by granting an ex-parte injunction against the sale of anti-epilepsy drug Valrope, a drug made by Arinna Lifesciences. Since 1991, Intas has a established brand ‘Valprol’ for anti-epilepsy. Intas cited trademark violation by Arinna Lifesciences which had recently launched a similar name sounding drug for anti-epilepsy treatment.

As per the court documents, Mr Vivek Seth, current director of Arinna Lifesciences was "the former employee of Intas holding senior position of Vice President at Intas, and heading the CNS division and having control over the sales and sales representatives of Intas, the chances of confusion between Intas’ Valprol and the recently launched Valrope are high".

The court further passed an order stating that Intas "has been able to make prima facie case for protection its trademark and if injunction is not granted, the organization will suffer irreparable loss and injury."

The court issued a order restraining Arinna Lifesciences from selling their product under the trademark ‘Valrope’ which is identical and deceptively similar to Intas’s trademark ‘Valprol’ till further orders.

In June, Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek picked up 10.16% stake in Intas Pharma from Private Equity firm ChrysCapital, which holds in total 16.8% in the company.

Intas is a research based vertically integrated pharmaceutical company predominantly engaged in the business of manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products and medicinal preparations for human and animal care. The annual turnover of Intas for the financial year 2013-2014 was approximately $750 million.