What’s Hot in Pharmaceutical Trademarks
Cynthia Johnson Walden, Fish & Richardson
Life Sciences Intellectual Property SummitApril 12, 2012
1. Importance of Trademarks as a Business Asset
• According to the 6th Annual BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands (2011):– The combined value of the Top 100 brands was $2.4 trillion– Brand value overall rose 17% from the previous year
• Brand‐Finance® Global 500 (2012) lists the top 500 brands by value, including 6 pharmaceutical brands:
#128 Johnson & Johnson $3,401M
#319 Pfizer $3,433M
#323 Bayer $3,401M
#369 Novartis $3,070M
#455 GlaxoSmithKline $2,592M
#497 Roche $2,388M 3
1. Importance of Trademarks as a Business Asset (continued)
• Trademarks promote brand name awareness• Cost‐effective means of marketing• Allow for streamlined labeling • Decrease the confusion between medications • Decrease the risk of medication errors
– 12.5% of medication errors are contributed to confusion of one name with another by health professional
– 15% of deaths from medication errors are due to brand name mix‐up
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2. Counterfeiting on the Rise
• In FY2011, US Customs and Border Protection made 24,792 seizures with domestic value of $188.1M
• Top commodities seized:– Consumer electronics (22%)– Footwear (14%)– Pharmaceuticals (9%)
• Value of consumer safety and critical technology seizures soared to >$60M due to an increase in pharmaceutical and perfume seizures
• Domestic value of counterfeit pharmaceutical seizures rose by >$11M, an increase of almost 200%.
*U.S. Customs and Border Protection Intellectual Property Rights FY2011 Seizure Statistics, January 2012.5
2. Counterfeiting on the Rise(continued)
• Estimated MSRP* of pharmaceutical seizures was $25.1M (49% mark‐up)
• Top source countries for pharmaceutical goods seized:
*Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Intellectual Property Rights FY2011 Seizure Statistics, January 2012.
Country Domestic Value (US)China $6.9MIndia $3.8MPakistan $3.4MHong Kong $1.7M
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• Dangerous ingredients• Risk to health of consumers• Damage to brand/reputation
The Dangers of Counterfeiting
2. Counterfeiting on the Rise(continued)
Dubai: Boxes of counterfeit (R) and genuine (L) Plavix pills confiscated in 2007. The French‐made medicine was worth 5 million dirhams ($1.36 million). Tests on the fake pills showed they contained traces of cement
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3. US Customs and Border Protection
• Recordal of trademark registrations with US Customs– Procedure/duration/cost
• Recordal of trademark registrations with Customs in other countries
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5. FDA and USPTO Approval• USPTO and FDA Approval Process
– Issues/considerations– Timing
0 2 3 4 5
PTO
1
Conduct trademark searches/file “intent to use” application
Notice of Allowance Issued
Final 3 year deadline for commencing use in commerce
FDA
File “request for review” of trademark after Phase II clinical trials complete; FDA will give “tentative approval”
FDA review again 90 days before final approval
Submit Statement of Use based on use of mark in Phase I clinical trials
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If needed, file app. for new generic name with USAN Council after IND app. filed with FDA 10
6. Advertising
• Comparative advertising
• Substantiation of claims Aleve, December 2011, www.adpharm.net
Abilify, www.adpharm.net
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7. Domain Names
• Domain names to promote pharmaceuticals– AstraZeneca, Nexium® – www.purplepill.com– Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Ortho Tri‐Cyclen Lo® ‐www.thepill.com
• New generic top‐level domains (gTLDs)– .pharma– .merck– .advil– .drug
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8. Keyword Advertising
• Use of keyword advertising to promote branded pharmaceuticals on Internet search engines
• Current status of the law
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10. Recent Notable TTAB Cases
• In re Organon, 79 USPQ2d 1639 (TTAB 2006)(orange flavor for anti‐depressant denied as functional)
• Abbott Laboratories v. Pet AG, 2011 WL 6099692 (TTAB 2011)(CATSURE and DOGSURE refused based on ENSURE, PEDIASURE, NEOSURE marks)
• Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Heal the World, Inc., 2011 WL 5600324 (TTAB 2011)(LAZACOR+ not confusingly similar to NASACORT)
• In re Prosynthesis Laboratories, Inc., 2012 TTAB LEXIS 116)(CHINA FREE allowed, insufficient proof it was disparaging under the Lanham Act) 18
10. Notable Federal Court Cases
• Norwich Pharmacal Co. v. Sterling Drugs, Inc., 271 F.2d 569 (2nd Cir. 1959), cert denied, 362 US 919 (1960)(pink color functional for stomach products)
• Warner‐Lambert Co. v. McCrory’s Corp., 718 F. Supp. 389 (D.N.J. 1989)(amber color of medicinal mouthwash is functional)
• Johnson & Johnson v. Actavis Group hf, 87 USPQ2d 1125 (SDNY 2008)(gold color protectable and not functional as indicating an antibiotic ingredient)
• GoClear, LLC. v. Target Corp., 2008 WL 160624 (N.D. Cal. 2009)(early sales of acne medication made without proper FDA approval could not be used to acquire trademark priority) 19