Trademarks, the International Pharmaceutical Industry, and the Developing Countries

There are several reasons why an examination of the impacts of trademarks in the pharmaceutical industry on the developing countries is opportune. First, the nature of supply and consumption is strongly conditioned by the trademark system. Second, the pharmaceutical sector is the most important internationally as far as the registration of trademarks is concerned - what happens here has a powerful influence elsewhere. Third, an internationally recognised alternative to brand names as an identification method, namely the use of generic names, exists and is in fact used to varying degrees by different countries.