Established name should be on screen as long as the proprietary name

AI-verifiednoteFDA guidance · non-bindingRaised as a question — a person decides

Rule

FDA recommends the established name be displayed on screen for the same duration as the proprietary name whenever it accompanies it.

Check

Compare the total on-screen time of the established name with that of the proprietary name where the two appear together; flag any presentation in which the established name is displayed for less time than the proprietary name.

Escalate when

Escalate when the established name and proprietary name each appear in multiple separate on-screen displays and the reviewer cannot determine comparable display times.

Where this comes from

Section II.D.2 · page 8. The highlighted words are quoted exactly; a script confirms they appear in the source before the rule can be published.

…ontain superimposed text or “supers.” For superimposed text that is equivalent to a headline or tagline, FDA does not intend to object to fewer appearances of the established name if the established name is placed in direct conjunction with the most prominent display of the proprietary name in the audiovisual promotional labeling or broadcast advertisement. When the established name accompanies the proprietary name, FDA recommends that the established name be displayed on the screen for the same amount of time as the proprietary name. For superimposed text that typically appears along the bottom of the screen, the established name does not have to be included with the proprietary name. FDA does not intend to object if the established name is not included in the audio portion of audiovisual promotional labeling or in an audiovisual broadcast advertisement. For radio and telephone advertisements, FDA does not intend to object if the established na…

Open the original at page 8 on fda.gov ↗Read our full copy →

Document: FDA guidance: Product Name Placement, Size, and Prominence in Advertising and Promotional Labeling (final)
Version: as retrieved — the publisher does not version this document; the fingerprint below identifies the exact file
Retrieved: 2026-09-21 from www.fda.gov
Fingerprint: f6f78606542ef91596ef21f6…

FDA guidance describes the agency's current thinking. It is not binding law, and this rule is a recommendation, not an obligation.

Applies when

Naturepromotional

Mediumbroadcast

How this rule was checked

Citation proven by script and passed an independent verifier running on a different model. Not yet confirmed by a human.

Drafted
claude-code:sonnet · 2026-09-21
Independent verification — revise
claude-code:opus · 2026-09-21
Reviewer's reasons
- Supported: Section II.D.2 says 'When the established name accompanies the proprietary name, FDA recommends that the established name be displayed on the screen for the same amount of time as the proprietary name.' The rule keeps the recommendation framing and correctly carries the 'whenever it accompanies it' precondition from the preceding clause.
- Not overstated: 'FDA recommends' is preserved, authority is 'guidance', and severity 'note' matches a non-binding display-duration suggestion.
- Atomic: one comparison, one requirement.
- Determinism is mis-flagged. 'deterministic' requires that presence/absence or a literal match settle the question; here the reviewer must compare two on-screen durations, and the rule's own check asks whether established-name time is 'noticeably shorter' — an impression standard with no stated threshold. This is a judgment call (and in practice depends on how many separate displays of each name are counted across a spot).
- Observation, not a required change: applies_when lists medium 'broadcast' only, while the source passage also covers audiovisual promotional labeling that is not broadcast (e.g., videos shown in a health care provider's office). The rule text does not claim broader scope, so this is a scoping choice rather than a contradiction, but it does leave in-office videos uncovered.
- Locator 'Section II.D.2' is right.
Revised by the drafter
claude-code:sonnet · 2026-09-21
Independent verification — pass
claude-code:opus · 2026-09-21
Reviewer's reasons
- The quote is a complete, verbatim sentence from Section II.D.2 and is FDA's own recommendation, not a restatement of a regulation the guidance quotes.
- Not overstated: the rule preserves 'FDA recommends' rather than converting the recommendation into an obligation, and severity 'note' matches its non-binding character.
- The added qualifier 'whenever it accompanies it' is justified by the source's own lead-in, 'When the established name accompanies the proprietary name, FDA recommends ...', so the quote is read in context rather than broadened.
- Atomic: a single comparison - established-name on-screen duration against proprietary-name on-screen duration.
- determinism 'judgment' is defensible: where each name appears in several separate on-screen displays, deciding whether display time is comparable is not settled by a literal match, and the escalation note names exactly that case.
- authority 'guidance' is correct and claims no more than the document gives; applies_when (promotional, broadcast) matches Section II.D.2's audiovisual and broadcast scope; locator Section II.D.2 is right.
- Violable: a TV ad flashing the established name for a fraction of the time the brand name is held on screen breaks it.

Nearby rules

US-NAME-035 US-NAME-037 US-NAME-038 US-NAME-039 US-NAME-053