ECJ offers glimmer of hope to brand owners

he ECJ decision in Pharmacia & Upjohn v Paranova has been awaited with interest by the pharmaceutical industry. The decision, which was handed down on October 12, offers more hope to pharmaceutical companies in the battle against parallel importers than was expected. The ECJ has found that re-branding by a parallel importer to match the brand used in the country of import (where this differs from the country of export) cannot be challenged by the brand owner if such re-branding is objectively necessary in order that the parallel imported product may be marketed in the country of import.