
When drug is not actually a drug on the marketplace
The PharmComm company, the owner of the exclusive rights to the Bezornil® trademark, found pages of sellers on marketplaces that were not related to this product in any way. The cards of some products also featured the wording “better than bezornil”.
After unsuccessful attempts to contact the management of the Wildberries marketplace, the company turned to the Moscow Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (OFAS) with a complaint about unfair competition and violation of the law on advertising. However, the OFAS, along with the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal and the Moscow Arbitration Court, did not see violations in the fact that marketplace sellers use other people's trademarks. The thing is that the content of product cards in e-com is not regulated by the Law on Advertising.
Bezornil® is an ointment for rectal and external use intended for the treatment of chronic hemorrhoids and anal fissures as part of complex therapy.
As Yury Prishchep, CEO of PharmComm, told the information and analytical publication Pharmvestnik that on the Ozon marketplace, they respond to complaints and remove positions that allow comparison of “better bezornil” in their product card, but this does not solve the problem, since one closed position account for two or three new ones.
Interestingly, according to the State Register of Medicines (GRLS), only one dosage form of Bezornil® is registered in the Russian Federation - an ointment. The marketing authorization holder is Mainlong Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company, 3rd Pharmaceutical Factory. Bezornil® is manufactured in China.
However, on marketplaces you can find Russian-made Bezornil cream, which, according to information on the secondary packaging, has a certificate of state registration and meets the requirements of TR / TS 009/2011 “On the safety of perfumery and cosmetic products”.
References:
- https://pharmvestnik.ru/content/news/Sud-podtverdil-pravo-prodavcov-Wildberries-ne-ispolnyat-zakon-o-reklame-v-kartochkah-tovara.html
- https://pharmvestnik.ru/articles/Bezzashitnye-sredstva.html
- https://grls.rosminzdrav.ru/Grls_View_v2.aspx?routingGuid=852567e4-301b-41a5-9883-fcca8f52cf93
- https://bezornil.ru/dokumenty.html