The present invention relates to labels, and more particularly, to a two-ply label for pharmaceutical products having printing on three surfaces and a resealable top panel.
As regulation of the pharmaceutical industry continues to increase, more and more information is required to be prominently displayed for consumers on the pharmaceutical product packaging or containers. Many pharmaceutical products also comprise a plurality of ingredients, all of which must be indicated on the product containers. While over-the-counter products sold in boxed packaging often have ample space for all the required consumer information, pharmaceutical products requiring physician prescriptions are sold by pharmacists in pill containers to which identification labels are affixed.
The significant amount of information required to be included on these pharmaceutical bottle labels poses considerable problems when traditional labels are used. Labels are either required to be very large in order to be able to contain all the required identification information, or the information is minutely printed to ensure it fits on the label. As well as the slightly increased cost of printing larger labels, the use of a larger container simply to be able to accommodate the increased label size would become necessary.
As a result, labels having more than one printed surface are becoming increasingly common. This permits a significant amount of information to be accommodated on the pharmaceutical bottle label, with legible sized printing and without resulting in an extremely crowded appearance.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,827 issued Oct. 15, 1991 to Sasso, for example, discloses a pharmaceutical label having a printed front and back side. Each end of the label is permanently adhered to the pharmaceutical bottle, and a central double-sided printed portion of the label is attached between the two glued ends. The printed underside of the label can be accessed by tearing away a perforated strip separating the central printed portion from one of the glued ends.
Canadian Patent Application 2,297,193, laid open Jul. 27, 2000, similarly discloses a label for a pharmaceutical bottle having a double sided printed section which can be peeled away from the permanently adhered end sections. However, after reading the information located on the reverse side of the printed section of the label, this section can then be resealed to its original position on the bottle. Minute spots of adhesive on the rear of the printed label section permit the peeled away section to be re-fixed in place.
Several problems with these labels nevertheless remain. The quantity of information now required has become too much to fit in a visibly pleasing way even on two sides of a standard sized label. Without increasing the size of the label, smaller printing is the only other solution at present. Another disadvantage of the resealable label of Canadian Patent Application 2,297,193 remains in that the small spots of adhesive quickly lose their adhesive properties once the label has been peeled back and replaced several times.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved label for pharmaceutical bottles.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a self-adhesive two-ply label.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a resealable label that permits the label to be peeled back and re-adhered many times.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a two-ply label having printing on three sides of the label.
Therefore, according the present invention, there is provided a two-ply label adapted to be adhered to an object, said label comprising: a top and a bottom ply; said top ply having a front and rear printable surface, and said rear printable surface having deadened permanent adhesive thereon; said bottom ply having a front printable surface and a rear surface having permanent adhesive thereon, adapted to adhere said label to an object; and said rear printable surface of said top ply being immediately superimposed on said front printable surface of said bottom ply.
There is also provided a label adapted to be adhered to an object, said label comprising: a top and a bottom ply; said top ply at least partially superimposed on said bottom ply, and having a front and rear printable surface; said top ply being removably adhered to said bottom ply; and said bottom ply being adapted to be permanently adhered to an object.
According to the present invention, there is additionally provided a two ply label adapted to be adhered to an object, said label comprising: a top and bottom ply, hinged together along a common edge; said top ply having a front and rear printable surface; said bottom ply having a front printable surface and a rear surface having permanent adhesive thereon, adapted to adhere said label to an object; and said rear printable surface of said top ply being immediately superimposed on said front printable surface of said bottom ply.