An international pharmaceutical company has brought a legal action here, claiming its trademark for a drug to treat osteoporosis has been infringed by an Irish company importing the drug from Britain.
US group Merck and its British arm Merck Sharp and Dohme Ltd is seeking a declaration that Eurodrug Ltd of Seatown Business Park, Swords, Dublin, has infringed its registered trademarks for the tablet Fosamax.
The case opened yesterday before Mr Justice Peter Kelly in the Commercial Court, the commercial division of the High Court, and continues today.
The judge was told Merck became aware Eurodrug was reselling the drug after another company told Merck that Eurodrug was doing the same with one of that firm's products.
Eurodrug acknowledged it has bought packs of 70mg "Fosamax Once Weekly" from the UK, but denied it has infringed the trademark or breached Irish regulations.
Merck says it is concerned not only about its loss of sales of the drug but about potential damage to the reputation of the product because of Eurodrug's "failure to comply with regulatory requirements". Merck claims it is the registered holder of the Irish authorisation for the product and this licence has been infringed by Eurodrug importing, offering for sale or putting it on the market.
The company claims Eurodrug failed to obtain what is known as a "parallel product authorisation" (PPA) under Irish Medicines Board (IMB) guidelines that permit an importer to sell a drug provided it has an authorisation to do so.
Merck is seeking damages and an order that Eurodrug hands over all of the relevant drug in its possession. Alternatively, Merck says, it wants an account of the profits made by Eurodrug as a result of the alleged infringement.
Eurodrug denies it has infringed any trademarks or that it requires the consent of Merck to put Fosamax on the market. Eurodrug says it did not require a PPA from the IMB and references on Fosamax packaging to its existing authorisation negated the need for a PPA. Eurodrug also claims a product licence has been issued for Fosamax by the British equivalent of the IMB, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency, as well as by the IMB.
Eurodrug denies Merck has suffered any loss or damage and claims Merck has profited from the purchases made by Eurodrug in the UK.
