In late May, the FDA released a draft guidance document detailing its best practices for developing trademarks for drugs. The draft guidance, entitled Best Practices in Developing Proprietary Names for Drugs, can be found here.

Among other topics of interest to the pharmaceutical branding community, the draft guidance includes recommendations on how to pre-screen drug trademark candidates and what to consider when switching a drug from by-prescription only to over-the-counter.

This draft guidance is the last in a series of three that the FDA issued to assist the pharmaceutical industry in minimizing medication errors when designing and developing drug products.

Comments on this draft guidance can be submitted to the FDA's Division of Dockets Management through July 28, 2014. If you're interested in discussing the draft guidance, or if you have any questions on how to submit comments, please contact us.