Trademark report reveals new challenges and opportunities for pharmaceutical brands
Strict governmental standards for brand names have forced the global pharmaceutical industry to adapt by rapidly increasing the number of trademarks it files for every new drug, according to a new report published by Thomson CompuMark.
These additional efforts to secure a trademark are an attempt to combat the increasing rate of rejection from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) as those organizations try to prevent look-alike/sound-alike pharmaceutical brand names. Combined, the FDA and EMA are now rejecting 40-50 percent of pharmaceutical trademarks each year.
The special report, compiled using Thomson CompuMark data to identify trends in pharmaceutical trademark applications and top filers by company and country, also showed that China was most prolific filer in 2010 with a total of 36,105 pharmaceutical trademarks filed. In addition, emerging markets like Vietnam, Venezuela and others are among the top 10 countries filing the most drug trademarks in 2010.
The report also covers the FDA’s pilot program designed to improve consumer safety, streamline the review process and make regulatory decisions more transparent, which has led to the development of several best practices that will contribute to the standardization of the trademark process.
For a copy of the full special report, click here.