Information leaflet for Trademark Departments
Information leaflet for Trademark Departments
28 February 2005
| Publication
Overview
The selection of new INNs necessitates the use of appropriate safeguards to avoid a conflict with established trademarks. When selecting new INNs, the INN Expert Group convened by WHO for this purpose generally rejects any proposal that could result in a conflict with known TMs. Selected names are published in a WHO periodical (“WHO Drug Information”) as proposed INNs before they are actually adopted as recommended INNs.
Interested parties are given a period of 4 months in which to raise an objection to a proposed INN. An objection may be based, for example, on similarity between the proposed INN and a trademark in which the interested party has proprietary rights.
WHO Team
Access to Medicines and Health Products,
Health Product Policy and Standards,
INN and Classification of Medical Products (INN)
Editors
International Nonproprietary Name (INN) Programme
Number of pages
2
Reference numbers
WHO Reference Number: INN Leaflet TM
Copyright
© World Health Organization