The Chamber of Patent Disputes of the Federal Institute of Industrial Property (Rospatent) upheld the complaint of the German company Berlin-Chemie AG, which owns the Мезим/Mezym trademark, and canceled the registration of the Мезитим/Mesitim trademark of the Swiss company Organic Pills AG in relation to goods of the 5th class (digestive aids, pharmaceutical).
However, Rospatent upheld the registration of TM ‘Мезитим/Mesitim’ in relation to goods of the 3rd class (cosmetic and toilet products not medicinal), which will allow the Swiss to remain on the market with the biologically active food supplement ‘Mezitim’.
The reason for the cancellation of registration was a likelihood of confusion (the difference between the compared designations is less than three characters, which is insufficient, according to the Methodological recommendations for the rational selection of drug names), and ТМ ‘Mezym’ and the corresponding drug appeared on the market earlier than the priority date of Mesitim trademark.
Additionally, the drugs have the same active substance (pancreatin) and purpose.
The German company also conducted a public opinion poll, and more than half of the respondents reported their association between these signs.