Exphar S.A. Vs. Essphar Private Limited:CS(COMM) 891/2025High Court of Delhi:26.08.2025:Hon’ble Judge: Justice Tejas Karia
Exphar S.A., a Belgium-based pharmaceutical company, has been using the coined trade name and mark “EXPHAR” since 1981 and selling in India since 1991. It holds trademark registrations in India and internationally. Essphar Pvt. Ltd. adopted the mark “ESSPHAR”, which looked and sounded very similar to “EXPHAR,” used the same red, black, and white color scheme, the red plus (+) sign, and even sold medicines through online platforms like Apollo Pharmacy. Exphar alleged that this imitation was dishonest and risky in the pharmaceutical field where confusion can be dangerous.
Exphar claimed infringement under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and violation of copyright under the Copyright Act, 1957, arguing that Essphar’s mark was deceptively similar to its own and caused confusion. Essphar opposed, arguing that the Delhi High Court lacked jurisdiction since Exphar was a foreign company and sales were only exports, not within India.
The Court noted that Exphar had sales in India and under Section 56 of the Trade Marks Act, even exports from India count as “use” of the mark in India. The Court found the two marks—“EXPHAR” and “ESSPHAR”—to be visually, phonetically, and structurally similar. Since pharmaceuticals are sensitive products, such similarity could cause serious harm to patients and irreparable damage to Exphar’s goodwill.
Therefore, the Court granted an ad-interim injunction, restraining Essphar from using “ESSPHAR” or any similar mark, and directed removal of its listings from Apollo Pharmacy, JustDial, IndiaMart, PharmaCompass, Tata nexarc, CB Insights, and LinkedIn.
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Written By: Advocate Ajay Amitabh Suman, IP Adjutor [Patent and Trademark Attorney], High Court of Delhi
