Stay on ‘CORONIL’ – Madras HC restraints Patanjali to use trademark ‘CORONIL’

After being in the news in recent times, the controversial drug of Patanjali Ayurved ‘CORONIL’, which was also claimed as a cure for the novel coronavirus, has received a blow from the Madras HC, which has restrained Patanjali Ayurved from using the mark ‘CORONIL’ for its immunity booster. 

Justice C.V. Karthikeyan passed the interim order valid till July 30 on the plea of Chennai-based company Arudra Engineering Private Limited which has claimed that ‘Coronil’ is a trademark owned by it since 1993.

According to the company which is into manufacturing chemicals and sanitizers to clean heavy machinery and containment units, it has registered ‘Coronil-213 SPL’ and ‘Coronil-92B’ in 1993 and has been diligently renewing the trademark since then.

“Currently, our right over the trademark is valid till 2027,” the company said.

Claiming that its products with the trademark have a global presence, the company claimed that its clients include BHEL and Indian Oil.  To substantiate its claim, the petitioner produced sale bills of the products for the past five years.

“The mark adopted by Patanjali for its drugs are clearly identical to the marks registered by the company. Though the products sold by the company are different, the use of identical trademarks would still amount to infringement of our intellectual property right,” the company said.

“Permitting Patanjali to continue to use the mark will directly affect our reputation and the goodwill created over the mark for over 26 years in both international and domestic markets,” the petitioner added. After Patanjali launched Cornonil, the Union Ayush Ministry on July 1 had said that the company can sell the drug only as an immunity booster and not as a cure for Covid-19. Baba Ramdev had reacted to the criticism of the efficacy of Coronil, saying some people were hurt by the rise of indigenous medicine.

“The mark adopted by Patanjali for its drugs are clearly identical to the marks registered by the company,” Arudra Engineering’s lawyer argued in court. “Though the products sold by the company are different, use of identical trademarks would still amount to infringement of our intellectual property right.” Arudra Engineering argued that allowing Patanjali Ayurved to use its trademark would damage its reputation and the goodwill created by the mark for over 26 years.

Patanjali Ayurved had claimed in June that it had manufactured two drugs that showed 100% effectiveness in coronavirus patients. The Union Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, or AYUSH, had barred Patanjali from promoting these products. However, on July 1, the ministry said the company could sell the products, but only as medicine for “management” of the coronavirus, not for its cure. It is not known what “management” means.

India has over 10 lakh cases of the coronavirus, and more than 26,200 deaths, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s latest data.