What term describes the brand or product name used by the manufacturer rather than the active ingredient?

• A. Common name
• B. Brand name
• C. Generic name
• D. Trade name

Answer: (D)

The key idea is the distinction between what the chemical is called and what the product is called on the market. The name that a manufacturer uses for the product itself—what appears on the label, packaging, and advertising—is the trade name. This is the identifier that differentiates the product in commerce, even if it contains the same active ingredient as other products. For example, a pesticide might contain carbaryl as the active ingredient, but be sold under the trade name Sevin. The active ingredient’s standardized, nonproprietary name would be carbaryl (the generic name), while the common name would be a more everyday or nontechnical reference. So the term describing the brand or product name used by the manufacturer, rather than the active ingredient, is the trade name.