The Court held that the plaintiff’s mark ACECLO, being a clipped and descriptive form of the International Non-Proprietary Name Aceclofenac, is publici juris and incapable of exclusive monopolisation under Section 13 of the Trade Marks Act; since both parties adopted marks derived from the same INN and the defendant’s mark “ACECLOHEAL” added a distinctive suffix, the rival marks were prima facie dissimilar, the plaintiff’s inconsistent use of its originally registered mark weakened any claim of acquired distinctiveness, and no likelihood of confusion or misrepresentation was established; therefore, no prima facie case of infringement or passing off was made out and the application for interim injunction was rejected.
Case law relied/held:
Sun Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd. v. Hetero HealthCare Ltd. & Anr., 2022 SCC OnLine Del 2580, relied upon in Paras 17–18, holding that INN-derived marks or clipped forms thereof cannot confer exclusivity as they remain publici juris.
Aristo Pharmaceutical Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Healing Pharma India Pvt. Ltd.: 25 November 2025: Commercial IP Suit (L) No. 25932 of 2025: 2025:BHC-OS:22177: High Court of Bombay : Hon’ble Ms. Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh
[Readers are advised to exercise their own discretion as it may contain errors in perception, interpretation, and presentation[
[Written By: Advocate Ajay Amitabh Suman, IP Adjutor [Patent and Trademark Attorney], High Court of Delhi]
