German drug giant Bayer just crushed a local company in court over animal medicine names. The High Court sided with Bayer against Milborrow Animal Health Zimbabwe after a messy fight about who could use similar trademarks. Judge President Mary Zimba-Dube ruled that Milborrow played dirty when they registered their HITET name. The court said Bayer had been using their HI-TET brand since 1980 and deserved protection. Milborrow refused to give up and took their case to the Supreme Court.
The whole mess started because both companies wanted to sell animal drugs under nearly identical names. Milborrow had registered HITET back in 1989 but let their paperwork expire without renewing it properly. Bayer jumped in during 2009 and registered HI-TET after checking that Milborrow's trademark had died. The court discovered that Milborrow had actually been selling Bayer's products for years before stealing the name for themselves. This backstabbing move convinced the judge that Milborrow acted dishonestly.
Bayer proved they had been using HI-TET continuously since 1980 through official medicine registration records. The court said having government approval to sell drugs counts as real commercial use of a trademark. Judge Zimba-Dube worried that having two similar names would confuse farmers and hurt animal health. The final ruling wiped Milborrow's trademark from the books and restored Bayer's rights. Bayer also won their legal costs from the defeated company.
The whole mess started because both companies wanted to sell animal drugs under nearly identical names. Milborrow had registered HITET back in 1989 but let their paperwork expire without renewing it properly. Bayer jumped in during 2009 and registered HI-TET after checking that Milborrow's trademark had died. The court discovered that Milborrow had actually been selling Bayer's products for years before stealing the name for themselves. This backstabbing move convinced the judge that Milborrow acted dishonestly.
Bayer proved they had been using HI-TET continuously since 1980 through official medicine registration records. The court said having government approval to sell drugs counts as real commercial use of a trademark. Judge Zimba-Dube worried that having two similar names would confuse farmers and hurt animal health. The final ruling wiped Milborrow's trademark from the books and restored Bayer's rights. Bayer also won their legal costs from the defeated company.
