Bombay High Court rules in favor of Serum Institute of India (SII) for using trademark “COVISHIELD”

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Bombay High Court rules in favor of Serum Institute of India (SII) for using trademark “COVISHIELD”

By Pallavi Paul

Pharmaceutical company, Cutis Biotech had filed a suit in the Commercial Court of Pune, accusing Serum Institute of India (SII) for using trademark ‘COVISHIELD’ with respect to Coronavirus vaccine claiming to be the prior-user and invoking the law of passing off. The District Court had rejected the interim injunction restraining SII from using the trademark ‘Covishield’ stating that Cutis Biotech has earned no goodwill in a short time and they also failed to pass the test required for passing off a trademark.

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By Pallavi Paul

The Bombay High Court on 20th April, 2021 upheld the judgement of the District Court and refused to grant interim injunction to Cutis Biotech stating that it will be too farfetched to hold that there will be confusion in the minds of consumers’ mind regarding the use of a trademark in a Government administered vaccine at designated places and over the counter-sanitizer products and also the two products are visually different. Further, any temporary injunction against the ‘Covishield’ vaccine (widely known to counter Covid-19) would have wider impact and disrupt the vaccine administration program of the State.

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By Pallavi Paul

Both the application for registration of the mark ‘Covishield’ is pending before the Trademark Registry, but the Court was of the opinion that SII has coined the word ‘Covishield’ and took substantial steps for its development and manufacturing.

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