Nonprofit Doctors Group Takes Action Against Scientific American for Unauthorized Use of 'Good Medicine' Trademark

WASHINGTON—The nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is taking action against Scientific American and Bioethics International for unauthorized use of the “Good Medicine” trademark for the title of their new magazine. Scientific American picked the name for its new magazine, despite the fact that the original “Good Medicine” magazine has been published by the Physicians Committee since 1992 and is a federally registered trademark.

The Physicians Committee’s cease-and-desist letter, which was sent Nov. 3, cites the federal Lanham Act, which allows legal action challenging the unauthorized use of a trademark if such use is likely to cause confusion.

Scientific American attempted to debut its own “Good Medicine” publication in late 2020. The first issue focuses on topics including the COVID-19 pandemic and ethics in drug testing and clinical trials, topics that the Physicians Committee regularly covers in its publication.

Twenty-eight years earlier the Physicians Committee first published “Good Medicine” magazine, which focuses on ethics and advances in scientific research, developments in nutrition, and practice tips for physicians and health care professionals. 

In the cease-and-desist letter, the doctors’ group has called on Scientific American and Bioethics International to stop distributing any publication that uses the “Good Medicine” trademark, destroy all copies of their “Good Medicine” publication, remove the “Good Medicine” trademark from all print, online, or other content, and agree not to use the “Good Medicine” trademark in the future.