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21 August 2017Americas

J&J handed reprieve over ‘potentially deadly’ counterfeits

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has been handed another victory in its fight against counterfeits after being granted an injunction preventing several companies from selling “potentially deadly” versions of a blood glucose strip it produces.

In an order handed down on Thursday, August 17, the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted J&J subsidiary LifeScan a permanent injunction preventing the defendants from selling counterfeit versions of the OneTouch blood glucose test strip.

The strip, which is used by diabetics to monitor their blood glucose levels, has been the victim of counterfeiting multiple times forcing LifeScan to take action on several occasions.

J&J’s latest victory dates back to a case filed in 2015 in which LifeScan and J&J said the defendants had been manufacturing and distributing dangerous counterfeits around the world.

The complaint said the defendants had imported and distributed the counterfeits, believed to derive from China, and had used the goodwill associated with the ‘OneTouch’ trademark.

In its 2015 complaint J&J said: “This action is brought to shut down and punish those that are responsible for the manufacturing, distribution and sale of these potentially deadly counterfeit medical devices, and to seize the counterfeits to protect patients.”

It added: “Test strips bearing the OneTouch marks have come to be known by the purchasing public throughout the US and abroad as blood glucose test strips of the highest quality. As a result, the OneTouch marks and the goodwill associated with them are of inestimable value to LifeScan.”

The injunction prevents the defendants from buying, selling or importing products using the OneTouch mark and falsely representing that they are an authorised seller of the products.