Delhi HC refuses to direct Dr Reddy’s to junk ‘Olymviq’ stock

The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to allow the destruction of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd’s inventory of its generic semaglutide drug, Olymviq, while hearing Novo Nordisk’s trademark infringement suit concerning its blockbuster brand Ozempic.

A bench of justice Jyoti Singh orally observed that destroying already manufactured stock of a diabetes drug would not be in the patients’ interest. “We are dealing with a product consumed by diabetic patients… There can be nothing worse than destroying it,” the court said, underscoring that public interest must weigh in such decisions.

The bench was responding to the Danish drugmaker’s plea seeking directions for either destruction or repackaging of the inventory, alleging that the brand name infringes on its trademark. However, the court expressed reservations even on relabelling, questioning its commercial viability. “Who is going to buy with this labelling?” Justice Singh remarked.

The dispute

At the centre of the dispute is semaglutide, the blockbuster drug used to treat type 2 diabetes and manage weight, marketed globally by Novo Nordisk under the brand names Rybelsus, Wegovy, and Ozempic. The drug lost patent exclusivity in India on 20 March, triggering a surge of generics, with companies such as Dr Reddy’s entering the market with their own versions.

Novo Nordisk approached the Delhi High Court on 25 November to block Dr Reddy’s from using the name Olymviq, arguing that it is deceptively similar and could confuse patients and prescribers.

In the previous hearing, the court directed Dr Reddy’s to halt the rollout of the impugned trademark, including manufacture and distribution, pending further proceedings.

Novo Nordisk has argued that Ozempic is a coined, well-known brand with global sales of over $63 billion over the past five years, and that allowing similar names in the same therapeutic segment would dilute its brand and risk confusion.

Senior advocate Amit Sibal, appearing for Novo Nordisk, urged the court to direct Dr Reddy’s to stick to its existing brand Obeda instead of Olymviq and to relabel the product accordingly. The Indian drugmaker, however, opposed this, submitting that over-labelling could pose risks, including potential contamination in injectable products.

Senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, appearing for Dr Reddy’s, assured the court that the company would not manufacture semaglutide under the impugned trademark going forward. He sought permission to release the existing inventory, manufactured earlier in February, into the market without further brand promotion.

The court also noted that Dr Reddy’s is a well-known pharmaceutical company and indicated that a balanced solution could be explored, including the possibility of allowing the existing stock to be used subject to safeguards, if agreeable to the Danish drugmaker.

It adjourned the matter without passing a final order, stating that it would decide later on the most appropriate course.

Dr Reddy’s filed trademark applications for Olymviq on 25 July 2025 and again on 23 March 2026, according to records from India’s trademark registry. The company has also been engaged in a separate legal dispute with Novo Nordisk since May 2025 over alleged infringement of the semaglutide patent.

The dispute could have far-reaching implications for how brand protection will play out in the highly competitive weight-loss drug market.