Generic names in trademarks
These generic names or their common stems cannot be registered as trademarks, in order to avoid confusion and jeopardising public health and safety. However, in Leo Pharmaceutical Products v. Kotra Pharma, the High Court held that the Malaysian Trade Marks Act does not specifically prohibit the registration of trademarks that are INNs or confusingly similar to INNs. This is unlike Section 13(b) of the Indian Trade Marks Act, for example.
