ICC 232/2013
Type
Case
Court
Iraq Court of Cassation
Jurisdiction
Iraq
Taxonomy
Trademarks, Pharmacy, Drugs & Medicinal Products, Civil Evidence, General Consumer Law
Copyright
LexisNexis
Decision date
4 Feb 2013
Catchwords
Trademark – Drugs – Health Care – Experts – Evidence – Consumer - Registration
This case involved the refusal to register one of two products with a trademark after it was argued there were similarities between one of the products and another product. Additional experts were called to consider the case because the product was a pharmaceutical product. A key issue was that the consumers of this product were in the medical sector and differences between the products would be clear to those in that sector.
Background
A company called filed a case against the Industry and Minerals Minister and the Registrar of the Commercial Trademarks and Information claiming that it had requested the registration of the trademark (REPIFORM) on two types of products and the registrar had accepted the registration of one type and refused the other because there was a similar trademark. The company claimed there was a stark difference between the two trademarks which could be identified by an ordinary person including differences in the sequence of letters, writing, and pronunciation and the general appearance. The company requested the registrar's decision be revoked. The Minister and a third person joined the litigations as parties to the case.