Understanding pharmaceutical brand names:

Struggling to find the right brand name for your pharmaceutical products?

Here’s some help from the experience and expertise of Aadya Enterprises coming your way to help you guide along your journey of giving the best brand name to your pharmaceutical products.

Firstly, the most important thing is that the brand name you choose should not match with any other company’s brand name in the same class, as classified by the patenting authority of that country.

In India, patents for brand names are issued by the government of India through its Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Controller General of Patents Design and Trade Marks.

Here’s a step by step guide for the same:

1. Whatever brand name hits your mind, just run a search for the same by clicking the link: https://ipindiaonline.gov.in/tmrpublicsearch/frmmain.aspx.
2. In the blank against wordmark, enter the brand name you wish to keep for your product.
3. Next is the class. The pharmaceutical products fall in Class 05, so you’ll have to enter the class. Or if your product belongs to any other class, just select that class from the hint box given at the end of this post.
4. In the search type, there are three options: Wordmark, Phonetic and Vienna code. Two of them are most important, first is the wordmark that establishes that no two registered brand names are the same in spellings. Next is the phonetic which rules out two brand names being pronounced similarly for the same class. So, you’ll have to run the search twice, one for Wordmark and another for the phonetic one. 
5. Goods description is an optional tab wherein you can fill in the type of goods as selected from the class.
6. Hit the search button. Another page will open up displaying all similar brand names along with their status, whether they are registered or objected. If your brand name matches that of any registered brand, then you will not get the trademark for that brand name. Even if you apply, that’s going to be a wastage of money. So, better be cautious than to lose. Think about some other name and get back to searching again.

If your brand name matches some other registered brand name, the owner of that brand can even sue you for using his/her property just like Cutis Biotech sued serum Institute for the use of Covishield brand name. But the case was dismissed since both fall in different classes. Serum institute's vaccine was registered in Class 5 while Cutis' hand-sanitizer with the same name Covishield falls in class 3.

In case of any difficulty, feel free to contact us at Aadya Enterprises or you can reach us via e-mail id: aadyaenterprize@gmail.com or you can just drop a message in the comment section below and we will get back with our reply at the earliest.

Once you have found a suitable name that is available for registration, you can apply for registering the same with the help of an advocacy firm providing legal services in this realm.

Coming to pharmaceutical brand names, as we discussed even in the last post, good brand names are those that are prescribed the most. And for a doctor to recall a brand name for a particular product, it 

must have some special features.

Who has to remember the medicine’s brand name?

A good pharmaceutical brand name should address two main motives:

1. For the doctor: Ultimately, sales in the pharmaceutical sector depend on doctor’s prescriptions. And the doctor should get such a hold on to the brand name, that it must equalize with the composition. Whenever he has to prescribe a brand for say, preventing post hepatic complications, it should instantly come to his mind like Liv.ok (It indicates normalisation of the liver).
2. For the patient: The final consumer of any medicine or supplement is the patient. Many diseases such as chronic ones require long-term management and hence the patient has to repeatedly buy those medicines. And patient develops a psychological dependence on the brands they have been taking for the long-term such as Ecosprin (Anti-platelet aggregating action prescribed to hypertensive patients). The medicine contains Aspirin as the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). Patients hesitate in changing the brand names and they do not readily accept other substitute brands in such cases. Another example is Becosule capsules. The Indian market is flooded with a variety of multivitamins, but whenever most patients are asked to take the supplement, they tend to purchase Becosule rather than any other known or unknown brand.

Qualities of a pharma brand name:

Coming to the qualities that can assist in promoting pharmaceutical or nutraceutical or cosmetic or ayurvedic or herbal products are:

1. Attractive: A brand name should be attractive but not too complex to be forgotten easily. The attraction here does not mean a unique name, but something that grasps attention and is long-lasting.
2. Small: Smaller is the brand name, easier it is to remain in the memory and recall when needed. Lengthy brand names are hard to retain. The brand name should always be under the doctor's pen when needed to be prescribed for a specific condition(s) to the patient(s) for it to hit its maximum potential. 
3. Indicative: This is the most important element of a brand name in the pharmaceutical sector. There are multiple things that a brand name can indicate towards like indication, company name, ingredient, some final result and more.

Here, we will discuss these aspects in detail taking up some examples of the common brand names.

What can a pharma brand name indicate?

1. Company name: Most common example is most of the medicines of the company CIPLA that uses Cip as either prefix or suffix in the name, just as in the case of Nicip (Nimesulide by Cipla), Ciplar (Propranolol by Cipla), Ciplox eye drops (Ciprofloxacin eye drops by Cipla), etc.
2. Indication: A brand name can indicate the use of the medicine such as Keytocold MT (Anti cold medicine), Solvincold-AF (Anti cold medicine), Covishield (Shield against Coronavirus), Emeset (Stops emesis, i.e., vomiting), Vomistop (Stops vomiting), Drinknill (Aids in alcohol withdrawal) etc.
3. Organ: Some brand names use the organ name in short or as a part of the brand name to indicate the purpose. Even if the doctor does not remember all the ingredients of each brand name like in herbal preparations where most medicines have lengthy compositions, he can easily recall the brand name. Examples include Liv 52, Liveril, Liverex forte all of which are meant to restore liver health. Others are like Ovacare that says ‘Care for Ovary’, Dr Ortho indicates bones, Pediasure ensures pediatric development, Hridya Amrit Vati (Tonic for the heart).
4. Ingredient(s): Another most commonly used thing in deciding brand names in the pharma sector are the ingredients or the composition. This gives an instant hint to the doctor regarding medicine. Some examples include Protinext mom (Protein powder for pregnant and lactating mothers), Gascontrol-RD SR (Controls acidity is one thing and another thing is sustained release formulation and ingredients are indicated by RD meaning Rabeprazole and Domperidone), Montair-LC (Levocetirizine + Montelukast are the ingredients), Azee (Azithromycin), Moxicip (Moxiflocain by Cipla), Vigamox (Moxifloxacin eye drops), Carloc (Carvedilol), Ramcor (Ramipril), Rantac (Ranitidine), etc.
5. Mechanism of Action (MOA): Each medicine works by a specific mechanism. This mechanism can be used as small indicators like Betacap (propranolol that is a beta-blocker), Aciloc (Ranitidine that works by blocking gastric acid), etc.
6. Purpose: Sometimes, brand name give an indication as to what the composition will likely serve as in Haem-up, Haemohim and Haemohim-XT all indicating that the product is an haematinic and intends to raise haemoglobin (Hb) levels. 

Then, some brand names use a combination of two or more things to come up with brilliant brand names. Examples are like Nicip (Nimesulide by Cipla: ingredient and Company), Dytor (Torsemide that is a diuretic: ingredient and MOI), etc.

 

And there are others that do not indicate anything, yet are easy to remember and have taken up a wide hold, both of doctor’s pen and patient’s memory. Examples include Crocin (which contains Paracetamol which is an anti-hypertensive drug), etc.

 

In case of any assistance in helping with pharmaceutical brand names, feel free to reach out for help at Aadya Enterprises.

 

Some pharmaceutical/nutraceutical/cosmetics brand name examples and what they indicate:

• COVAXIN: Vaccine for coronavirus
• COVISHIELD: Shield against coronavirus
• Becosules: Vitamin B.complex
• Solvincold: Dissolves the cold
• Dermicool: Keeps the skin (derma) cool.

IP Classification Hint box:

Class	Description
Class 1	Chemical used in industry, science, photography, agriculture, horticulture and forestry; unprocessed artificial resins, unprocessed plastics; manures; fire extinguishing compositions; tempering and soldering preparations; chemical substances for preserving foodstuffs; tanning substances; adhesive used in industry.
Class 2	Paints, varnishes, lacquers; preservatives against rust and against deterioration of wood; colorants; mordents; raw natural resins; metals in foil and powder form for painters; decorators; printers and artists
Class 3	Bleaching preparations and other substances for laundry use; cleaning; polishing; scouring and abrasive preparations; soaps; perfumery, essential oils, cosmetics, hair lotions, dentifrices
Class 4	Industrial oils and greases; lubricants; dust absorbing, wetting and binding compositions; fuels(including motor spirit) and illuminants; candles, wicks
Class 5	Pharmaceutical, veterinary and sanitary preparations; dietetic substances adapted for medical use, food for babies; plasters, materials for dressings; materials for stopping teeth, dental wax; disinfectants; preparation for destroying vermin; fungicides, herbicides
Class 6	Common metals and their alloys; metal building materials; transportable buildings of metal; materials of metal for railway tracks; non-electric cables and wires of common metal; ironmongery, small items of metal hardware; pipes and tubes of metal; safes; goods of common metal not included in other classes; ores
Class 7	Machines and machine tools; motors and engines (except for land vehicles); machine coupling and transmission components (except for land vehicles); agricultural implements other than hand-operated; incubators for eggs
Class 8	Hand tools and implements (hand-operated); cutlery; side arms; razors
Class 9	Scientific, nautical, surveying, electric, photographic, cinematographic, optical, weighing, measuring, signalling, checking (supervision), life-saving and teaching apparatus and instruments; apparatus for recording, transmission or reproduction of sound or images; magnetic data carriers, recording discs; automatic vending machines and mechanisms for coin-operated apparatus; cash registers, calculating machines, data processing equipment and computers; fire extinguishing apparatus.
Class 10	Surgical, medical, dental and veterinary apparatus and instruments, artificial limbs, eyes and teeth; orthopaedic articles; suture materials
Class 11	Apparatus for lighting, heating, steam generating, cooking, refrigerating, drying ventilating, water supply and sanitary purposes
Class 12	Vehicles; apparatus for locomotion by land, air or water
Class 13	Firearms; ammunition and projectiles; explosives; fire works
Class 14	Precious metals and their alloys and goods in precious metals or coated therewith, not included in other classes; jewellery, precious stones; horological and other chronometric instruments
Class 15	Musical instruments
Class 16	Paper, cardboard and goods made from these materials, not included in other classes; printed matter; bookbinding material; photographs; stationery; adhesives for stationery or household purposes; artists' materials; paint brushes; typewriters and office requisites (except furniture); instructional and teaching material (except apparatus); plastic materials for packaging (not included in other classes); playing cards; printers' type; printing blocks.
Class 17	Rubber, gutta percha, gum, asbestos, mica and goods made from these materials and not included in other classes; plastics in extruded form for use in manufacture; packing, stopping and insulating materials; flexible pipes, not of metal.
Class 18	Leather and imitations of leather, and goods made of these materials and not included in other classes; animal skins, hides, trunks and travelling bags; umbrellas, parasols and walking sticks; whips, harness and saddlery.
Class 19	Building materials, (non-metallic), non-metallic rigid pipes for building; asphalt, pitch and bitumen; non-metallic transportable buildings; monuments, not of metal.
Class 20	Furniture, mirrors, picture frames; goods(not included in other classes) of wood, cork, reed, cane, wicker, horn, bone, ivory, whalebone, shell, amber, mother- of-pearl, meerschaum and substitutes for all these materials, or of plastics.
Class 21	Household or kitchen utensils and containers(not of precious metal or coated therewith); combs and sponges; brushes(except paints brushes); brush making materials; articles for cleaning purposes; steelwool; unworked or semi-worked glass (except glass used in building); glassware, porcelain and earthenware not included in other classes.
Class 22	Ropes, string, nets, tents, awnings, tarpaulins, sails, sacks and bags (not included in other classes) padding and stuffing materials(except of rubber or plastics); raw fibrous textile materials.
Class 23	Yarns and threads, for textile use.
Class 24	Textiles and textile goods, not included in other classes; bed and table covers.
Class 25	Clothing, footwear, headgear.
Class 26	Lace and embroidery, ribbons and braid; buttons, hooks and eyes, pins and needles; artificial flowers.
Class 27	Carpets, rugs, mats and matting, linoleum and other materials for covering existing floors; wall hangings(non-textile).
Class 28	Games and playthings, gymnastic and sporting articles not included in other classes; decorations for Christmas trees.
Class 29	Meat, fish, poultry and game; meat extracts; preserved, dried and cooked fruits and vegetables; jellies, jams, fruit sauces; eggs, milk and milk products; edible oils and fats.
Class 30	Meat, fish, poultry and game; meat extracts; preserved, dried and cooked fruits and vegetables; jellies, jams, fruit sauces; eggs, milk and milk products; edible oils and fats.
Class 31	Agricultural, horticultural and forestry products and grains not included in other classes; live animals; fresh fruits and vegetables; seeds, natural plants and flowers; foodstuffs for animals, malt.
Class 32	Beers, mineral and aerated waters, and other non-alcoholic drinks; fruit drinks and fruit juices; syrups and other preparations for making beverages.
Class 33	Alcoholic beverages(except beers).
Class 34	Tobacco, smokers' articles, matches.
	SERVICES
Class 35	Advertising, business management, business administration, office functions.
Class 36	Insurance, financial affairs; monetary affairs; real estate affairs.
Class 37	Building construction; repair; installation services.
Class 38	Telecommunications.
Class 39	Transport; packaging and storage of goods; travel arrangement.
Class 40	Treatment of materials.
Class 41	Education; providing of training; entertainment; sporting and cultural activities.
Class 42	Scientific and technological services and research and design relating thereto; industrial analysis and research services; design and development of computer hardware and software.
Class 43	Services for providing food and drink; temporary accommodation.
Class 44	Medical services, veterinary services, hygienic and beauty care for human beings or animals; agriculture, horticulture and forestry services.
Class 45	Legal services; security services for the protection of property and individuals; personal and social services rendered by others to meet the needs of individuals.

 

 

 

 

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Role of pharma visual aid in pharmaceutical branding: An ultimate guide into designing best pharma visual aids.

Is your pharma visual aid performing?

Are doctors prescribing your pharmaceutical brands?

‘A good visual aid can be the best mnemonic.’

Pharma visual aids as the name indicates are the visuals that employ graphics, content, images, infographics and more to create a visual informative piece that pharmaceutical and nutraceutical companies use to inform doctors about their brands.

Whether it’s a company’s patent brand or a generic molecule or composition, several factors decide if the doctor will prescribe that brand or not. 

Keeping aside the composition benefits for the patients because that’s the main reason why a medicine or a supplement will be prescribed, in this post we will be discussing the role of visual aid in pharmaceutical branding.

Before we begin with that, let’s learn a little bit about any medicine launch since it is important to understand why a pharmaceutical company needs effective visual aids.

Let’s start with a new molecule or a new composition or a new supplement or a new pharmaceutical or nutraceutical or cosmetic formulation. A medicine is launched in the market for use by the general population once it is cleared by the drug authorities after different sets of clinical trials. Once the medicine’s efficacy and safety are accountable and the benefit to risk ratio is nearly cent per cent, a drug is launched in the market. Initially, a patent is granted to the company that spends years and investment into the research and development of that product. The patent gives that company monopoly rights for a certain number of years to exclusively manufacture and market that product in the approved markets and for approved uses.

Once the patent is expired, that product can be manufactured and marketed by any other company approved and licensed for the same. So, why are we talking about it here is because now there are so many companies and so many brand names selling the same composition for the same indications and with the same clinical results. So, whose brand will reign high in doctors’ prescriptions?

Let’s begin with the gist of this post, how can a visual aid help a pharmaceutical company get its brand the most prescribed. After all, in pharmaceutical marketing, sales depend upon prescriptions. And remember, Every prescription is valuable. If you want to thrive in the pharma business, make this your driving force.

We will be discussing point by point all the elements of a pharma visual aid (VA) and how they work. If you have any questions, feel free to mention them in the comment section below.

#1. Brand name:

Brand name is the company’s owned copyright brand name (if trademarked) with which any particular formulation of composition is sold in the market. It is illegal to use any other company’s brand name or similar in spelling or phonetic and hence every brand name has to be unique.

Qualities of a good brand name are:

• Attractive: It’s a common perception that a unique brand name will be liked by the doctors. It is true to an extent, but not always. Difficult names are hard to remember, even for a doctor since he has to have all the medicines and drugs up his sleeves always. So, the brand name should be catchy that cannot skip the doctor's pen.
• Small: Small and simple brand names are easy to remember, both for doctors and patients. It’s important that even patients get a grasp on your company’s brand name because they are the ultimate consumers. And there are many medicines like antihypertensive medicines, diabetic medicines and other medicines for chronic diseases that have long management periods. Patients tend to develop a psychological affinity for many brands and they are reluctant to shift to any other brand offering similar composition (a substitute brand). So, this can be an edge if you get a great brand name.
• Indicative: A brand name can either indicate the ingredient(s) or indication(s) or portion of its mechanism of action or a company. Indicative brand names come under a doctor’s pen immediately.

Examples:

1. Indication: Covishield (Shield against Coronavirus) vaccine, Covaxin (vaccine against coronavirus), Nogacid (Antacid), Digene (Digestive enzyme), Coronil (Nil coronavirus), Gascontrol-20 (Controls excess gas formation), Derma clin Kt (Cleans skin), Derma guard (Protects/guards skin cells).
2. Ingredient: Pantop, Pantin, Nupenta, Pantagon, Pantocip, Zipant, Alpanto, Pansure indicating their ingredient molecule Pantoprazole. Provanol indicating Propranolol, Gascontrol-PD SR (Sustained release formulation as indicated by SR that controls gas is another thing and PD indicates the ingredients Pantoprazole and Domperidone)
3. Mechanism of action (MOA): P-PPI (Pantoprazole as a proton pump inhibitor), Betacap (Propranolol which is a beta-blocker)
4. Company: Nicip (Nimesulide by Cipla), Pantocip (Pantoprazole by Cipla), Ciplar (Propranolol by Cipla).

The company CIPLA has used this edge of branding with great expertise where it sometimes uses both ingredient and company name or indication and company name or MOI and company name. Most of its brand names either have Cip as a prefix or a suffix.

The relevance of a brand name in marketing can be well understood by the fact that a company can sue another company for use of a copyright brand name. The brand name is intellectual property if registered with the concerned authority. A very recent example is:

“Maharashtra Firm Files Case Against Serum Institute Over "Covishield" Trademark”. Though the court rejected Cutis Biotech’s plea since its product Covishiled which is an alcohol-based hand sanitizer launched to capture the sanitizer market that bloomed during the time of the global pandemic, COVID-19, it is well understood how the brand name plays the game in branding and marketing.

Brand name in the visual aid:

Any guesses how a brand name on a VA page or presentation or a video or image can impact the branding? We would love to hear your point of view. So, please feel free to share your views in the comment box.

The brand name is the most important thing that a medical representative (MR) has to help the doctor remember and prescribe. VA is the MR’s first basic tool and he will never get a second chance to make the first impression for that brand in front of that doctor. It happens only once. After that, your reminders have their role plays but there is no second chance for the first impression.

Using brand name on a pharma visual aid page:

So, how to use a brand name in VA to make a mark on a doctor’s memory and have a lucid first impression. Well, the brand name should be bold, legible as well as audible (stand out loud on the whole visual). It should occupy a considerable amount of space on the VA page, not too less, not most of it. It should have a perfect combination of colours and fonts should not be fancy. After all, it’s not a calligraphy competition. Some small designing elements can add brilliance to the brand name, while too bold elements are demeaning as they make take the doctor’s attention towards that element and for a doctor, a clumsy element is just a piece of clutter. Element used to aid in recalling the brand name and if it can't do that, better leave the idea and use plain text but bold and beautiful.

If the point helped you, it’s great. If you need help, our team of creative designers at Aadya Enterprises are always there to help pharma companies grow through effective visuals.

#2. Concept:

Conceptualization in a VA means the second message delivered to the doctor through the visual, the first being the brand name. A concept is a thoughtful use of images or informational graphics to help deliver the message about the use of a particular product. 

Some descriptive examples are:

1. Portraying aged people if a product is intended to be used in geriatric population or children in paediatric products or females in products meant to be prescribed for gynaecological patients, pregnant females portrayed in products meant to be prescribed during the maternity period, and the like.
2. Display of mechanism of action of the molecule for example displaying how a particular medicine will interact with the human body (or veterinary in case of vet products), like blocking the action of acid in the stomach as in antacids, etc.
3. Portraying before and after effects as a patient in pain and happy when pain relieved in case of analgesics (pain-killers), skin with and without acne in skin purifying products, straining hard and relieved as in laxatives (used to treat constipation), etc.

Some VA concepts use a combination of all of this.

You can use multiple colours, fonts, design elements, vectors, graphics, it’s up to you as long as it uses minimum space, minimum elements and has the potential to deliver maximum output. There is no end to creativity. And as much odd piece of art you can come up with that educates as well as has a bit of entertainment, innovation are easy to remember.

If you can combine brand name and concept in a proportion that can leave a lasting impression on the doctor's memory, then the VA has done its first job.

#3. Punch line:

There’s a reason why it’s called a punch line and it is so because it squeezes the entire matter of the visual in just one line. Therefore, as captivating and informing be the one-liner, more are the chances of successful penetration of the brand name in the doctor’s mind and output in terms of prescriptions. The VA page detailing starts with the punch line where it is supposed to do teamwork with the brand name. During detailing, the brand name can be used either before or after the punch line as relevant to the one-liner.

The punch line sometimes use indication, sometimes use end-result, sometimes use a combination of both, sometimes rhymes with the brand name or is indicative of it and sometimes is a question for the doctor. Again, creativity knows no bounds. Some examples to help with are:

• Key to unlocking complicated urinary tract infections…
• PANGO: Makes the pain go…
• Are you looking for a potent hematinic?
• Tested and Trusted in Indian patients…
• A trusted formula against resistant bacterial infections...
• Trying to boost immunity of your patients....Try the best immuno booster...

 

#4. Content:

This is the most important content of the VA page. Though doctors have studied and have most of the drug names, indications, uses at their fingertips and they know when and to whom is any medicine be prescribed. So, what’s the point of content? It comes as a small excerpt as a recall for the doctor. But with content, you cannot expect a doctor not to be knowing. So, the content of the VA should be very concise and precise. It should not contain the broad details adding to the fluff. Some basic details can be used within sentences carrying bigger messages.

Rather than old messages which the doctor already knows, give him something new. Research is always On and if you can come up with the latest research on that particular molecule, then the doctor will give your brand a chance. But before coming up to the point of delivering content to the doctor, the MR should have generated interest in the product. Punch line and concept of the VA have done their job well accompanied by the MR’s confidence and other needed skills if the doctor is willing to hear about the product.

The content of a pharma VA is medical and hence better be accompanied by references. There are plenty of options to keep you updated. You can have access to free as well as paid journals and articles. Then, you can subscribe to newsletters and other means of subscriptions with research wings of different institutions.

Make sure that you only use the exact message of a clinical study in your VA. Do not manipulate any point for personal benefit. Even if a medicine is for sale, it is so only to help the patients in need. 

If you can access these details, it’s a piece of great news. Or you can always reach out for our help at Aadya Enterprises. We can help you exceed the doctor’s expectations with relevant and latest content to help you stand out from the crowd.

#5. Bottom Line:

The bottom line holds two elements, the first being a request to the doctor for his/her valuable prescription and the next being the promise of the product that it delivers. For example,

• The trusted hematinic for ages…
• Brings freedom from cough and cold…
• A complete health supplement….For all ages in all stages
• …Deficiency free healthy living…

 

Therefore, a pharma visual aid has five main components and all have to be used in the best proportion to deliver the best results.

Designing may not be your forte, but the product’s quality is always in your hands. So, as you work on the core quality of your product, we at Aadya Enterprises can help you get the best visual aids for your esteemed brands.

 

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