PRESCRIPTION PARADOX: EXPLORING THE PITFALLS OF CONFUSING PHARMACEUTICAL BRAND NAMES IN INDIA

AUTHOR – BAISHALI JAIN, RESEARCH SCHOLAR AT CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, PATNA

BEST CITATION – BAISHALI JAIN, PRESCRIPTION PARADOX: EXPLORING THE PITFALLS OF CONFUSING PHARMACEUTICAL BRAND NAMES IN INDIA, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 5 (1) OF 2025, PG. 1245-1252, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

ABSTRACT

In a recent pending case before the Delhi High Court, the matter of medication errors due to confusingly similar pharma packaging and labelling has once again raised the concern of medication process in India. The present suit is filed by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. against SGS Pharmaceuticals (P) Ltd. for trade dress passing off.  The plaintiff has prayed for restraining the defendant from infringing on the registered trademark, trade dress, colour scheme, and distinctive packaging of the medicine Cyproheptadine sold by the plaintiff under the trademark “Practin”. Medical community has been complaining about the instances of medication errors due to Look Alike Sound Alike (LSA) drug names in India, to no avail. The objective of this study is to review the role of Indian courts through precedents with the objective of underlying the interpretation of ‘likelihood of confusion’ test to determine passing off trade dress and trademark infringement with respect to pharmaceutical products in India.This case review article expresses states that the Indian market is full of LASA Drugs which have not yet caught the attention of the media or the responsible authorities. To review the role of Indian courts through precedents with the objective of underlying the interpretation of ‘likelihood of confusion’ test to determine passing off trade dress and trademark infringement with respect to pharmaceutical products in India.

KEYWORDS: Trademark, Infringement, Pharmaceutical, Likelihood of confusion, Medication, LASA drugs.