4
[7]
Infringement proceedings were instituted against Cipla in the Cape High
Court. Judgment in favour of Adcock was given on 9 February 2009 but an appeal to
the full bench is pending. These proceedings for expungement were brought
because the registration of the ZEMAX was only discovered after judgment was
delivered in the infringement proceedings..
[8]
Section 24 of the Act permits an interested party to apply for an order
removing ‘an entry wrongly made in or wrongly remaining on the register’, in this
case for the removal of the trade mark ZEMAX from the register of trade marks. For
reasons that will become apparent, I need deal only with s 10(14), which prohibits
the registration of –
‘a mark which is identical to a registered trade mark belonging to a different proprietor or so
similar thereto that the use thereof in relation to goods or services in respect of which it is
sought to be registered and which are the same as or similar to the goods or services in
respect of which such trade mark is registered, would be likely to deceive or cause
confusion, unless the proprietor of such trade mark consents to the registration of such
mark.’
[9]
The court below correctly accepted that the onus rested on Adcock to
establish a ‘reasonable probability’ of confusion amongst a substantial number of
purchasers.2 It came to the conclusion that Adcock failed to discharge this burden. It
relied primarily on the 1983 judgment in Adcock-Ingram Laboratories Ltd v Lennon
Ltd.3
[10]
That case concerned the alleged passing off of a medicinal tablet (Stilpane)
as if it was another (Stopayne). The question whether ‘the alleged similarity of the
trade marks, the colour of the tablets and their formulation’ was likely to cause
confusion was considered by the court with reference to the specialised market in
which prescription drugs are sold. It said that the provision of a prescription drug by a
medical practitioner is a ‘definitive, deliberate act’ with full knowledge of the contents
2
SmithKline Beecham Consumer Brands (Pty) Ltd (formerly known as Beecham South Africa (Pty)
Ltd) v Unilever plc 1995 (2) SA 903 (A) at 910B.
3
Two separate appeals were heard together, and are reported under the names Adcock-Ingram
Laboratories Ltd v SA Druggists Ltd & another; Adcock-Ingram Laboratories Ltd v Lennon Ltd 1983
(2) SA 350 (T) at 362-364; [1983] 4 All SA 68 (T) at 79-81. Only the second appeal is relevant to this
case. See also Triomed (Pty) Ltd v Beecham Group plc & others 2001 (2) SA 522 (T) at 550-1.