Organisation: Sandoz

In a wide-ranging interview, INTA’s president-elect and global head of trademarks for Sandoz, David Lossignol, talks about the challenges of managing pharmaceutical brand rights and the growing threat of IP restrictions.

19 April 2018

In <i>Glaxo Wellcome UK Ltd v Sandoz Ltd</i> the Court of Appeal confirmed the invalidity of an EU trademark registration for two shades of the colour purple, on the grounds that it did not meet the requirements for graphic representation of a trademark.

28 June 2017

In <i>Glaxo Wellcome UK Limited (t/a Allen & Hanburys), Glaxo Group Limited v Sandoz Limited</i>, the High Court held that under the EU Trademark Regulation, Glaxo’s purple-combination colour trademark was invalid. The decision illustrates the difficulties of making applications for colour marks which are used in a variable way.

20 September 2016

A court has denied a request by GSK, which owns a CTM consisting of the colour purple applied to an inhaler, for an injunction preventing Sandoz from marketing a purple inhaler. Among other things, the court reasoned that, while at first glance the purple colours of the two inhalers were quite similar, the products differed significantly in their form and overall impression.

28 November 2014