Search and Watch Tools and Strategies for Pharmaceutical Trademarks

Depending on your needs, you can choose between our subscription service for screening pharmaceutical trademarks (Markify ProSearch™) and our pay-as-you-go option for full clearance searches (Markify Comprehensive Search), which are also available on a bulk or package basis. 

• Should You Choose a Trademark Search Subscription? 

A subscription is recommended for pharmaceutical companies that need to undertake regular knock-out searches, as it enables them to search effectively against pharma-in-use names, as well as registered trademarks, and a variety of additional databases, from British Approved Names (BAN) to United States Adopted Names (USAN) and approved stems. 

Results can be filtered by risk level (high- or very high-risk) and source, while tags and comments can be added to reflect your internal critical levels. Crucially, results from trademark and pharma sources are displayed in a conveniently merged tab with the POCA score (indicating orthographic and phonetic similarity) clearly visible, as illustrated below.  

Find out more about our subscription tool or sign up for a free trial. 

• Should You Order a Clearance Search Report? 

Our pay-as-you-go trademark search reports are recommended for pharmaceutical companies that need to quickly run full clearance searches for pharmaceutical trademarks against a chosen name. In addition to identifying high- and very high-risk conflicts, our industry-leading search algorithm also ranks relevant results by medium- and low-risk so you can obtain a more comprehensive view of your options. 

If you need to search on an ad-hoc basis only, you can order reports directly online; however, we also provide package options to maximize your search strategy. Crucially, the tool is clear and straightforward to use, with search reports generated within 15 minutes and made available instantly online in your chosen format and sent by email. 

As with our subscription service, our full pharmaceutical trademark clearance searches cover trademark registry data, pharma-in-use, and additional pharma-specific sources. In addition, you can choose to search against a wider range of authoritative, industry-specific, common-law sources including domain names, business names, web, images and social media content, and social and App names.  

Our tailorable packages will enable you to combine pharma, trademark, and common-law searches for pharma-related products and slogans (web, images, social media, social names, App names). For example, we provide a US Full Pharma Pack (pharma, trademark, and common-law search), a US Full Pack (trademarks and common-law search), and a Global Common Law Pack (worldwide common-law search).   

Importantly, you can also easily customize and share these reports, including by adding your logo, company information, and preferred template(s). 

Find out more about our databases and our proprietary technology or order a report online. 

Our trademark and domain name watch solutions include our Markify Watch (including competitor intelligence) and Markify Brand Monitor tools. 

• Why Include Competitor Intelligence in Your Trademark Watch Strategy?  

A trademark-watching subscription is crucial for every business, as it provides the timely updates of potentially conflicting trademark applications you need to react promptly and proportionately to each threat. As well as identifying word and image conflicts effectively, your chosen tool should ideally allow you to monitor the activity of specific trademark owners (including competitors) and customize watch reports to include specific goods and services (G&S) and domain names.  

Owner and G&S monitoring offers valuable competitor intelligence by enabling you to keep track of new trademark applications and registrations (by watching for specific owners) and to follow industry product trends (by watching for G&S). 

For example, our Markify Watch allows users to monitor databases by class (G&S) and owners, with the results clearly flagged to identify the most relevant findings: 

We also provide built-in tools for reviewing and customizing the reports with optional color coding and comments, and users can apply custom branding and download reports in a variety of formats. 

Find out more about our trademark watch software and competitive pricing. 

• How to Monitor Brand Rights Online  

Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical sector is one of the many industries to be targeted by counterfeiters online. With fake drugs, unauthorized sales, and copycat brand names risking profits, not to mention the health of end-consumers, pharmaceutical companies understand the need to invest in online brand protection tools. The challenge lies in finding a supplier that can pinpoint results across all relevant online mediums in a timely, interactive, and digestible format.  

The solution is to find a tool that allows you to tailor and adapt your monitoring and enforcement strategy quickly and effectively—and by keyword, function, and channel. 

For example, Markify Brand Monitor enables you to monitor e-commerce marketplaces, social media, and web content worldwide, and by brand name, keyword, pricing, stock levels, and seller information. 

Crucially, the tool includes time-saving tools and automation to streamline results and activities. For example, you can set an action label for each item (enforce, investigate, or ignore), add items to whitelists, automatically assign labels (e.g., if the same seller lists multiple products), pre-set file formats, enable comments, and collect and process feedback directly in the tool via the HTML interactive format.   

Find out more about our online brand monitor tool or explore our complete online brand protection case management and takedown service. 

Questel has been a trusted partner for life science organizations for decades, delivering services across the IP lifecycle from searching and analytics to filing and prosecution, watching, renewals, and more. Discover our full range of dedicated life science services or set up a meeting with our subject matter experts today.