This Article has been written by Ms. Bipasha Choudhary, 4^th year student of Dewan Law College, Meerut.

 

ABSTRACT

The pharmaceutical sector in India is expanding rapidly. The pharmaceutical industry in India has grown significantly not only in terms of market capitalization but also in terms of availability and affordability. The pharmaceutical industry is extremely complicated nowadays. In the past, companies used simple marketing strategies to cater to consumer demands. Medical goods could quickly establish their reputation as a brand. It was simpler to increase brand trust, purchase intent, brand effect, and brand loyalty. Media, message reiterations, recall value, and creativity are key components of branding and marketing.

 

The branding strategies used by Indian pharmaceutical companies have been examined in this study. It is never feasible to observe the overall effect and every branding strategy employed by businesses. 500 respondents to a survey served as the study’s basis. Four theories have been proposed in relation to the problem. Correlation (r) and multiple correlation coefficient (R) are computed for the purpose of testing the hypothesis. We have also included other research findings that we discovered that may help with pharmaceutical product marketing.

 

INTRODUCTION.

With the emergence of competitive market economy manufacturers begin to identify their products by certain symbols or devices so as to distinguish their goods from similar goods manufactured and marketed by others. In addition, manufacturers also started advertising their goods by using their trade marks on them. This lead to Trademark acquiring good will and reputation among customers of goods. Realising the economic growth of the trademarks the competitors had a temptation to copy well known trademarks or adopt deceptively similar trademarks so as to reap profit by trading on a reputation of another Trademark. The necessity for protecting the good will and repetition of a Trademark was, therefore felt in all the Nations which lead to the adoption of Trademark law everywhere. At international level, the first multilateral convention i.e., Paris Convention for Protection of Industrial Property was adopted in 1883.

A trademark is a symbol used by businesses to distinguish their goods from those of other companies.  One letter, a logo, a symbol, a pattern, even numbers, as well as three-dimensional components like shape, packaging, etc., can all be included in a trademark. Therefore, a trademark’s distinctiveness serves as its defining characteristic. Trademarks used in connection with products and services such as banking, travel, etc. are called service marks. Only the registered owner is permitted to use a trademark.

FUNCIONS OF THE TRADEMARK

A Trademark normally performs following functions:

• it identify the goods of one trader and distinguish them from goods sold by others;
• it signifies that all goods bearing a particular trade mark comes from a single source;
• it signifies that all goods bearing a particular Trademark are of an equal level of quality;
• it acts as a prime instrument in advertising and selling of goods.

The main function of Trademark are therefore identification, source, quality, and advertising.

Objectives of Trademark law.

The trademark low primary serves two important purposes first it protects the public from confusion and deception by identifying the source origin of particular product as distinguished from other similar products and second it protects The trademark owners trade and business as well as the good will which it attached to his trademark.
In Cadbury India limited and others vs Neeraj food products 2007 (35) PTC 95 (Del) at p. 126. The Delhi High Court observe that the spirit, intendment and purpose of The trademark legislation is to protect the trader and consumer against dishonest adoption of one’s Trademark by another with the intention of capitalising on the attached reputation and goodwill.

Historical background of Trademark law in India.

In India the first legislation in respect of Trademark brought on the statute-book was the Indian Merchandise Marks Act, 1889. This act was followed by the trademarks act, 1940. Prior to the enactment of Trademarks Act, 1940, the dispute or problems specially those relating to infringement of trademarks or passing of decided in the light of section 54 of the Specific Relief Act, 1877, while the registration problem was tackled by obtaining a declaration as to ownership of a Trademark under the Indian Registration Act, 1908. The trademarks act 1914 reduces the system of registration of trademarks and provided statutory protection to registered trademarks. In 1958 The trademark and merchandise marks Act was adopted which repealed the Indian merchandise act 1889 and the Trademarks Act, 1940, and also provided in section 129 that any document declaring or purporting to declare the ownership or title of a person to a Trademark other than the register Trademark was not to be registered under the Indian Registration Act, 1908.

The 1958 Act did well for four decades. Further as India become a party to the agreement on Trade related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement it became mandatory for us to bring our Trademark law in confirm it with the provision of trips agreement. Accordingly The trademark Act 1999 was adopted which came into force on 15 September 2003. The 1999 act repeat the 1958 act. Apart from 1999 act remedies for passing of under common law are also available for unregistered trademarks.

Meaning and definition of trademark

A Trademark includes any word, name, symbol, configuration, device, shape of goods, packaging, combination of colours, or any combination thereof which one adopts and uses to identify at distinguish his goods from those of others.

Mark.
Defines mark to include a device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word, letter, numeral, shape of goods, packaging, or combination of colours or any combination thereof.

BRANDING IN PHARMACEUTICALS

When an active ingredient is given a brand name and sold with the help of marketing, the pharmaceuticals industry usually talks about a brand and a brand strategy. That is just one of the various ways a pharmaceutical company can make use of a brand, though.

Which pharmaceutical brands are available?

1. Product names: The item stands alone. This mostly pertains to expensive original medications.
2. Family brands: A performance name unites all of the products. One such brand is the traditional ratiopharm approach, which goes by names like “ratiopharm NasenDuo” in its brand names.
3. Corporate brands: Trust can be found in the manufacturers themselves (e.g. Henkel or Bayer). Employer branding and endorsement both benefit from this.

Every strategy is outlined in a brand architecture that makes sense.

The pharmaceutical industry is becoming increasingly aware of its corporate brand because it is currently experiencing widespread mistrust and a shortage of skilled workers. A business then employs its brand strategy as a marketing tool, but it also unifies all of its efforts under a brand promise that is materialized at every point of contact with the brand. Merck, for instance, uses the word “curiosity” as its equity.

Due to the intense competition in the pharmaceutical industry, which makes growth incredibly challenging, many companies attempt to expand through acquisitions. They now face two brand-related strategic obstacles as a result:

• The acquired pharmaceutical brands must be suitably incorporated into their brand architecture and portfolio.
• They need to build family and performance brands that are reliable, valuable, and able to endure significant changes while maintaining the essence of their core competencies.

BRANDING OF PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES

Debates against the Branding of Medicines

Self-medication is a very common practice in the community. The act of obtaining and ingesting one or more drugs without a doctor’s advice for the purpose of diagnosis, prescription, or treatment monitoring is known as self-medication.  The primary causes of self-medication are:

• Immediate access to medical professionals
• High consultancy fee
• Fear of being put through unnecessary tests
• Lack of time
• Increased access to internet
• Increased medicines advertisements with celebrity endorsement
• Increased
• brand education by pharmaceuticals companies

Researching the causes of self-medication reveals that people are doing it because of rising brand awareness.  They become equal to a doctor who has studied for several years after watching a 30-second television advertisement.

 

Researching the causes of self-medication reveals that people are doing it because of rising brand awareness.  They become equal to a doctor who has studied for several years after watching a 30-second television advertisement. The effects of self-medications are:

 

• Incorrect diagnosis
• Delay in medical advice
• Adverse reaction
• Permanent loss or damage
• Allergic issues
• Death too is possible is some cases

So, it  could  be  said  that  the  branding  of  medicine must  be  avoided  and  it must  be  narrowed  to target only Regular Medical Practitioners (RMP) and doctors only.

 

Debates in favour of Branding of the Medicines

 

Caveat emptor

As per the caveat emptor principle, the buyer was not able to obtain damages from the seller for any defects on the property that made it unsuitable for regular uses.  The only exception to this rule was if the seller purposefully concealed latent defects or made other substantial false statements that qualified as fraud.

Therefore, we can state that pharmaceutical companies’ branding as a means of consumer education is both necessary and desired. Patients have a right to know about the medications, and these branding initiatives are only helping to support that right.

 

Pharmaceutical branding and the placebo effect:

The placebo effect is also known as the placebo response.  A fascinating phenomenon occurs when a placebo, or fictitious treatment, is administered in place of an active ingredient, such as sugar, distilled water, or saline solution can occasionally make a patient feel better just because they anticipate it will be beneficial.  An important factor in the placebo effect is expectation.  An individual’s likelihood of experiencing a benefit from a treatment increases with their level of belief in that benefit. Companies looking to get government approval for a new treatment often use placebo-controlled drug studies to extract the true medical benefits of a drug from this power of positive thinking and some other factors.  The study contributes to the conclusion that the medication is effective if patients receiving the new medication perform noticeably better than those receiving a placebo.

 

The following branding strategy is employed by pharmaceutical companies, according to research that has been done in the past and content analysis of the profiles of various pharmaceutical companies.

5. Broad strategies: These include amalgamations, acquisitions, and mergers, among other things.  These don’t happen very often. High-level managers and board of directors meetings take these.
6. Celebrity endorsements: These are the most widely used techniques in the medical and bodybuilding industries.
7. Control over the marketing mix: To expand their reach, pharmaceutical companies are employing a strong sales force. They concentrate on product distribution and availability. All branding efforts will fail if the product is unavailable for an extended period of time on the market, and the brand image may be taken over by another product. Such branding initiatives also entail choices about pricing, etc.
8. Staying in the product category: The finest illustration of this branding endeavour is provided by Johnson and Johnson. They established their brand and thrive in the baby care industry.
9. Name that sounds almost generic: Ipca laboratories Pvt. Ltd.’s Pacimol 650 product has no trouble capturing the market. The reason for this is that their product name is the generic version of paracetamol.

 

CONCLUSION
Trademarks are essential for maintaining and increasing a brand’s value. Businesses can create a distinctive brand identity and achieve a market advantage by comprehending the benefits of trademarks. Businesses must carefully traverse the trademark registration procedure, carrying out in-depth searches, submitting applications, and making sure all standards are met. Ultimately, trademarks are valuable assets for enterprises in today’s marketplace because they help build consumer trust, brand awareness, and long-term success.

The current study has an impact on several facets of society.  The primary beneficiaries are cosmetic companies, marketers, entrepreneurs, and business studies students.Nowadays, the key to selling a product is not its attributes; rather, it is how well a company can educate its customers about the benefits, quality, and personal values of the product, often with the help of celebrities. It all comes down to being more intimate and less transactional. Companies must give customers the resources they need to assess whether a given good or service is a good fit for them.

Despite the benefits of medicine branding, self-medication is a worrying trend for society. Clear goals for medical branding initiatives are necessary to stop self-medication.  Drug advertisements must also educate consumers about the value of a prescription from a doctor and the risks associated with self-medication.

 

REFERENCE:-

1. V. K. AHUJA, Law Relating to Intellectual Property Rights, Second Edition 2013

ISBN: 978-81-8038-989-4

2. A Study of Marketing Strategies of Pharmaceutical Industry in India:

         Tahzeebul Hasan Siddiqui SBM, IFTM Moradabad (UP) University

Rakesh Kumar Yadav SBM, IFTM Moradabad (UP) University

https://www.brand-trust.de/en/glossary/pharma-brand.php#:~:text=The%20pharmaceuticals%20industry%20typically%20speaks,company%20can%20use%20a%20brand.