Intas granted injunction over anti-epilepsy drug trademark

Indian pharmaceutical company Intas Pharmaceuticals has been granted an injunction preventing a rival from marketing an anti-epilepsy drug it said infringed one of its trademarks.

According to Ahmedabad-based Intas, the Delhi High Court accepted its request to issue Arinna Lifesciences with an ex parte injunction preventing it from selling its drug Valrope.

Intas claimed the name was too similar to its own drug, Valprol, which it has marketed since 1991 and is also used to treat epilepsy.

The court, according to Intas, restrained Arinna from using, advertising, marketing, selling … “in any manner whatsoever” the trademark Valrope or any other trademark or name which is “identical and deceptively similar” to Intas' trademark.

The court added that Vivek Seth, director of Arinna, was a former vice president of Intas. “The chances of confusion between Intas' Valprol and the recently launched Valrope are high,” the court wrote.

The injunction will be in place pending the outcome of the case.

Intas and Arinna did not respond immediately to requests for comment.