Pharmacopoeia-listed medicament classification turns on trade connection, not veterinary labels or house marks.

Gentamycin Injection I.P. (Vet) was treated as a medicament specified in the Indian Pharmacopoeia, so it did not become a patent or proprietary medicament merely because it was marketed for veterinary use. The relevant Chapter 30 entry applied only where the product name or accompanying marks showed a trade connection with a particular manufacturer or marketer. The cattle-head symbol and label were held to indicate veterinary use, not brand identity, and a house mark was distinguished from a product mark. The higher-duty classification was rejected, and the goods were held not liable to duty as patent or proprietary medicaments, subject to any refund being governed by unjust enrichment.

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Issues: Whether Gentamycin Injection I.P. (Vet) was classifiable as a patent or proprietary medicament under Chapter 30 of the Central Excise Tariff, or as a non-branded medicament eligible for nil duty.

Analysis: The relevant tariff entry applied only where the medicine bore a name not specified in a pharmacopoeia, or a brand name, trade mark, symbol, monogram, label, signature, invented word, or other writing indicating a trade connection with a particular manufacturer or marketer. The product name was found to be the name of a medicine specified in the Indian Pharmacopoeia. The cattle-head symbol and label features were held to denote veterinary use and not a trade connection with the manufacturer or marketer. The distinction between a house mark and a product mark was applied, and the product was found not to carry any brand name or distinctive mark establishing such connection.

Conclusion: The goods were not patent or proprietary medicaments and were not classifiable under the higher-duty tariff entry.

Final Conclusion: The classification adopted by the Revenue was set aside and the assessee succeeded on merits, with any refund remaining subject to the law of unjust enrichment.

Ratio Decidendi: A medicine specified in a pharmacopoeia does not become a patent or proprietary medicament unless its name or accompanying marks indicate a trade connection with a manufacturer or marketer; mere identification of veterinary use or a house mark is insufficient.

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