The Supreme People's Court recently concluded the 10-year legal battle between Swiss pharmaceutical giant F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG (hereinafter referred to as Roche) and Southwest Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as Southwest Pharma), affirming Southwest Pharma's trademark right for Sanlietong.
Roche and Southwest Pharma signed a licensing agreement in 1987 in which Southwest Pharma was authorized to use the mark “Saridon 散利痛” and manufacture Saridon painkillers. After the partnership expired in 1992, Southwest Pharma filed a trademark application for “散列痛（Sanlietong）” to the Trademark Office under the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) and then applied for散利痛 (identical Chinese characters with Saridon). Roche challenged the registrations by filing oppositions.
After the decision was made in favor of Roche at the first instance court and the second instance court, Southwest Pharma filed for review by the Supreme People’s Court. The Supreme People’s Court held that when Southwest Pharma applied for registration of “散列痛（Sanlietong）”, it was not a registered trademark. It also held that the use of 散利痛(Sanlitong) on the painkillers was an act of indicating the name of generic drugs, and such use should not be considered as use of unregistered trademark. The Supeme People’s court therefore made the above decision in favor of.
