Defence against multiple trademark oppositions in pharmaceutical sector. We are assisting Apitoria Pharma Private against trademark oppositions filed by Apiter regarding the trademark APITORIA and its logo in class 5. The counterparty is a pharmaceutical company specialising in natural products and filed these oppositions based on its three trademarks APITER, APITER PROPOLEO-D, and APIFORT APITER, and its respective logos in class 5.
Lack of confusion among consumers and coexistence of trademarks: Our arguments of defence are: i) the trademarks are not similar and do not lead to confusion among consumers and ii) different trademarks coexist in the class including with the prefix API, in class 5.
Prominent name in international pharmaceutical landscape: Apitoria is an Indian pharmaceutical company and wholly owned subsidiary of Aurobindo Pharma Limited. It is a prominent player in the pharma industry, particularly in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). As a leading generic API company, Apitoria has a significant share of the international pharmaceutical market.
Controversial arguments by counterparty: The relevance of this case lies in the implications it holds for Apitoria’s trademark rights and market positioning. Surprisingly, the counterparty used the term API, commonly used in class 5, as a defence argument against an action for the nullity of its trademark that is currently pending while filing an opposition challenging the use of the very term by our client.
Latest development: We filed the answer to the opposition within the deadline, and the procedure is pending resolution at the first administrative level.
