The report, written by Jeroen Lallemand of Thomson CompuMark, says that regulatory bodies such as the US FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) are refining more rigorous processes for evaluating and approving pharmaceutical brand names.
From 1980 to 2010, the number of pharma trade marks filed globally increased by 300% with more than 238,000 filed in 2010 alone.
Many pharma companies seek multiple brands for each product, as they know the chances of marks being rejected either in examination or before the regulators are high.
The report says the FDA has rejected about 36% of applications in recent years, as a result of a more stringent approach.
The EMA rejected 43% of names in 2008, the most recent year for which figures are available.
The report also analyses the companies filing the most pharmaceutical trade marks.
Bristol-Myers Squibb topped the list in 2009 with 364 in the US and 71 in the UK.
But one of the most striking findings in the report is that the largest number of pharma trade marks is being filed by firms from China.
Chinese companies filed 36,105 pharma trade marks in 2010, compared with 27,545 by US companies and 26,123 by Indian ones.
While these are the top three countries in terms of filing, Vietnam, Venezuela and Turkey also feature in the top 10.
The report provides five tips on getting trade marks in the pharma industry: file early, file often; communicate; support rigorous research; be transparent; and stress test.
“Together, a deep understanding of FDA evaluation standards combined with an active dialogue between researchers, marketers and regulators begins to build a set of best practices for pharmaceutical trademarks,” the report says.
In 2009 the FDA launched a seven-step pilot programme for manufacturers to improve the name-approval process, and ensure fewer rejections. It is due to be evaluated at the end of this year, with a public meeting held in 2012 or 2013 to discuss its conclusions.
You can download the Thomson Compumark report here.
