The State Administration for Market Regulation ("SAMR") has recently formulated and issued the Guide to the Naming of Dietary Supplements (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") for public comment by November 16, 2018.
According to the Draft for Comment, the name of a dietary supplement is comprised of the brand name, the generic name and the property name, and should neither indicate a function of preventing or treating disease nor mislead or deceive customers. Brand names and generic names should not include "false, exaggerated or absolute words", among others; and generic names should be free of, for example, "quite misleading abbreviations of raw materials". Meanwhile, the Draft for Comment provides detailed requirements for the "declaration and evaluation of proposed names of dietary supplements", expressly stating that where a dietary supplement to be registered is named for the raw material of this product, the standard name of this raw material should be used; if the dietary supplement to be registered is named with the abbreviation of the raw material, such abbreviation should neither be ambiguous or misleading, nor constitute another meaning that goes against other naming rules.