Ahmedabad, March 21 (IANS) A legal battle is afoot among the pharma majors and local companies of Gujarat over ownership of a trademark.

The issue came to the fore when multinationals Pfizer and Ranbaxy knocked the doors of the Gujarat High Court after two local pharma companies, Parth and Pearl, filed a complaint alleging illegal use of their trademark, Capsola.

The police moved against the local company personnel under provisions of the IPC besides the trademark laws.

Acting on two separate petitions to quash the first information report (FIR), Justice Anant Dave Saturday ordered a stay on the police investigations up to April 23.

Parth Parentals Pvt Ltd (PPPL) has claimed that Capsola is their registered brand name under class 34 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act that refers to animal feed and supplement. Ranbaxy Fine Chemicals (RFCL) has a similar trademark on its name under class 5 of the act for plasters and bandages.

RFCL contended that the trademark was originally adopted by Ranbaxy Laboratories in 1986 and was extended and used for animal feed and branded animal feed supplement by PPPL.

In November 2005, PPPL and RFCL had entered into a purchase agreement through which PPPL were to manufacture and supply RFCL animal feed supplement under various brands owned by RFCL, including Capsola.

Later, RFCL hived off its animal health business, including animal's feed, supplement business, and transferred it to Vetnex Animal Health Ltd (VAHL), along with all the brands used by RFCL in relation to such business. These included the trademark Capsola, Capsola gold and Capsola premium, for animal feed supplement as well as registered trademark Capsola in class 5 from April 2009.