Khaitan & Co successfully represented Galderma Holdings, a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company, acting in India through its subsidiary Galderma India, before the Bombay High Court. The matter involved a significant intellectual property enforcement action against the large-scale counterfeiting operations targeting its well-known ‘CETAPHIL’ trademark.
In light of the growing threat of counterfeit skincare products across online platforms and local markets, Galderma approached the Bombay High Court seeking urgent relief. The Court granted an ex-parte John Doe injunction on 18 June 2025, enabling Galderma to take immediate action against unknown infringers engaged in the manufacture and sale of counterfeit CETAPHIL products.
Pursuant to the order of the Hon’ble Court, the Khaitan & Co team along with police authorities and Court Receivers, conducted coordinated raid operations on 2 July 2025 across manufacturing and trading locations in New Delhi and Mumbai. A manufacturing unit in New Delhi was raided, resulting in the seizure of over 15,000 finished and unfinished counterfeit goods, 12,000+ bottle caps, approximately 6,000 fake stickers bearing the ‘CETAPHIL’ mark and raw materials.
The counterfeiters were also found to be manufacturing spurious products for other leading brands. In Mumbai, search operations were carried out at multiple premises in Crawford Market, with limited seizures due to the logistical nature of the location.
The Khaitan & Co team was led by Rashmin Khandekar (Advocate), briefed by Smriti Yadav (Partner), Shubham Shende (Senior Associate), and Shubham Singh (Associate).
