Bayer And UPSA Clash Over Aspirin In Russia

24 February 1997

German drugs major Bayer AG and the French pharmaceutical group UPSAhave clashed in the Russian market over the trade-marking of aspirin. Bayer has taken its claim for exclusive sales of aspirin to an arbitration court after being denied the right earlier by the appellate board of the Russian federal patent bureau, the Rospatent.

In 1991, Bayer applied successfully to the Rospatent to register "Aspirin" as a trade mark. Since 1991, Bayer alone has been entitled to sell the drug under this name.

However, this position has been contested by UPSA, which also sought unsuccessfully to register its own trade mark. The UPSA case was rejected on the grounds that aspirin is a generic term. It is understood that the French company interpreted that as allowing it to sell the product in Russia, and was surprised to learn later of Bayer's successful registration.

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