Collaboration with distributors, retailers, and pharmacies

For a successful dealer and Bayer relationship, it is important to have clear guidance on how to handle the brands. It is not only a question of correct brand management. More important is to keep the trademark protection untouched and vivid.

Bayer successfully markets many of its products through Bayer-approved distributors. A separate trademark license is not required for selling and marketing original Bayer products through these Bayer-approved distributors. However, if the products are repackaged or relabelled before sale, and our trademarks are used on the packaging/label, a separate trademark license is required. Please consult Corporate Trademarks.

To avoid any misunderstandings, distributors are not permitted to use our trademarks except on material produced by Bayer. This is also true of the design or installation of Bayer trademarks at a point of sale – inside and outside of buildings. It is important that our brands are used correctly at the points of sale. Our Corporate Design forms the basis for such applications and must be applied correctly, as described in Identity Net.

The use of our trademarks by a distributor on its own material is “reference advertising” and must be legally reviewed and explicitly authorized by Corporate Trademarks and Corporate Brand Management.

Any co-promotion with distributors or other partners where both the distributor’s and our trademarks are to be used will only be permitted if a detailed trademark license agreement is signed. As handling such a collaboration or co-promotion is a complex business, please ensure start-to-end planning, management, and implementation through the entire process. Trademark and brand protection are one important element of this process. In that context, it is not only a question of the correct usage of our logos but also of how the collaboration in question supports our brand values and reputation.

Cooperation activities may take the form of:

Co-advertising: Two or more brands cooperate for joint advertising or a joint promotion during which both will be recognized as two separate brands.

Co-events: Two or more partners co-organize and co-finance an event for the same or joint target audience.

Co-marketing: Two or more partners bundle their marketing activities for a product or a service to reduce marketing costs.

Neither the Bayer Cross nor our product trademarks may be used on the business cards of distributors, dealers, or other external partners. We would ask you to always consult Corporate Trademarks and Corporate Brand Management if you receive a request concerning business cards from an external partner.

Cooperation at the point of sale (POS):

Cooperation on online marketplaces (OMP):

The Bayer Cross and the company name Bayer must also be used correctly on online marketplaces (e.g. TMALL in China or Orbia in Brazil). If there are flagship stores for Bayer products on such online marketplaces, care must be taken to ensure that the product trademarks and the Bayer Cross are used properly and in line with the guidelines detailed on Bayer Identity Net. Corporate Trademarks grants authorization in writing for such uses. Views of flagship stores (Tmall/Tmall.hk (“Tmall Global”) and to Orbia in Brazil) are given below: