HC bans deceptive use of ‘Apollo’ in healthcare

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court (MHC) has issued an injunction to the New Appolo Hospital from using any form of deceptive mark of ‘Apollo’ as it was an infringement of the registered trademark.

It was declared that “the word ‘Apollo’ is a well-known trademark insofar as the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector is concerned, as per the provisions of Section 2 (1) (zg) read with Section 11 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999,” wrote Justice Abdul Quddhose.

The judge’s injunction to the defendant — New Apollo Hospital — restraining from infringing on the registered trademarks of ‘Apollo’, ‘Apollo Hospitals’, ‘Apollo Diagnostics’, and ‘Apollo Clinic’ and its variants or “any other mark identical or deceptively similar mark in any other manner whatsoever”, read the judgment.

The judge also directed the New Appolo Hospital to pay the cost of the suit. Appellant Apollo Hospitals moved the HC seeking an injunction on the New Appolo Hospitals for deceptively using their registered trademark. It contended that the defendant had blatantly adopted a deceptively similar mark by the name ‘New Appolo Hospital’ for its business.

In July 2022, Apollo sent a cease-and-desist notice to the defendant to stop from using the trademark. Apollo claims that the defendant has refused to accept the guilt and stop using the trademarked name. Subsequently, Apollo filed a suit against the New Appolo Hospital.

After the court had granted an interim injunction restraining from not using the Apollo trademark, the defendant appeared before the Court and had given an undertaking that they had stopped using ‘New Appolo Hospital’.