Pharmacopoeia-listed medicine classification turns on brand use, not mere label disclosures required by drug rules.

Piperazine Hydrate Liquid, being specified in the British Pharmacopoeia, was not treated as a patent or proprietary medicament merely because its label displayed the manufacturer's name, animal symbols, or reference to a trade mark owner. Those particulars were regarded as label disclosures required by drug rules and as house marks, not as a brand name or trade mark used to indicate trade connection in relation to the medicine. The product was therefore classifiable as a non-patent medicament under Chapter Heading 3003.20.

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Issues: Whether Piperazine Hydrate Liquid was classifiable as a patent or proprietary medicament under Chapter Heading 3003.10 or as a non-patent medicament under Chapter Heading 3003.20.

Analysis: The product was admittedly specified in the British Pharmacopoeia, and the statutory definition of patent or proprietary medicament turns on whether the medicine bears a name not specified in a pharmacopoeia or carries a brand name or registered trade mark used in relation to the medicine to indicate a trade connection. The label contained the drug name prominently, while the manufacturer's name, animal symbols, and the reference to the owner of the trade mark were treated as disclosures required by the Drugs and Cosmetics rules and as house marks identifying the manufacturer. On that reasoning, the mark and label did not establish a product mark or brand name for the medicine itself. The separate view that the label declared an owner's trade mark was not accepted by the majority.

Conclusion: The product was not a patent or proprietary medicament and was correctly classifiable under Chapter Heading 3003.20; the appeal was allowed.

Ratio Decidendi: A medicine specified in a pharmacopoeia is not brought within the patent or proprietary category merely because the label carries manufacturer-identifying matter required by drug labelling rules, unless that matter functions as a brand name or trade mark used in relation to the medicine to indicate trade origin.

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