Publici Juris – In Pharma Products

"Publici juris" is a Latin word, and in the legal parlance, means, "of public right." The term signifies a thing or a right that is open and exercisable by all persons. It designates things that belong to the entire community, and not to any private party.

Usually, common suffixes or prefixes do not come in the way of distinctiveness. The nature of certain trades may require common suffix/ prefix for the purpose of familiarity. The distinctive nature of the word would then depend on the remaining part of the word attached to these common suffixes and prefixes. A term would be considered as a prefix or suffix only if they are derived from common or generic words. It is in this scenario the case under comment comes into limelight. The Madras High Court in Apex Laborataries Ltd v. Zuventus Health Care Ltd, 2006 (33) PTC 492 (Mad.)(DB) ruled that "Zincovit" and "Zinconia" are two words phonetically dissimilar and the visual impressions are also different and hence, it is hardly likely to