General rules were established at the beginning of the INN programme in order to guide the members of the INN committee and to allow health professionals to understand the rationale for a number of new names. At first, some countries used shortened chemical names as generic names, but this system was found to be very limited, since many molecules contain similar elements and groups, such as phenol, chlor, methyl or benzene-rings, in their chemical structures. In addition, a name that indicates relationship to a group of pharmacological similarly-acting substances is more meaningful to users.

In its Twentieth Report (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 581, 1975), the WHO Expert Committee on Nonproprietary Names for Pharmaceutical Substances reviewed the general principles for devising, and the procedures for selecting, international nonproprietary names (INN) in the light of developments in pharmaceutical compounds over the years. The current version of the General principles for guidance in devising international nonproprietary names for pharmaceutical substances is reproduced in Annex 2.