AMAZON'S withdrawal of its application to trademark 'Amazon Pharmacy' (PD breaking news) in Australia are being welcomed by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, who believes the rollout of the brand would have breached pharmacy legislation.
Guild National President, Trent Twomey, told Pharmacy Daily that the organisation would continue to oppose any future efforts to register the Amazon Pharmacy brand in Australia.
Twomey noted that Australia's pharmacy ownership laws were likely to have played a part in the online retail giant's decision to pull the pin on its trademark application with IP Australia last week.
"The Australian regulatory environment for prescription medicine supply may have been an impediment to Amazon's ambitions, but is designed to provide an environment of optimum benefit for patient safety and quality use of medicines," Twomey said.
"Furthermore, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) significantly subsidises many prescription medicines, including all PBS medicines dispensed to concession cardholders -- so it is unlikely Amazon could supply medicines at a cheaper price.
"It has been more than a year since the Guild filed our Notice of Intention to Oppose Amazon's attempt to register the trademark, and the Guild had every intention to continue to fight against this application to the fullest extent possible.
"Patient-centric care and medication safety are always front and centre for community pharmacy."
Amazon submitted a trademark application on 09 Jan 2020 (PD 15 Jan), with the Guild submitting an Intention to Oppose Notice on 05 May 2020.
Twomey confirmed that the Guild would continue to monitor Amazon to ensure there are no future contraventions of any relevant pharmacy legislation.
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