Raise your hand if you have recently received an email touting "really cheap Via*gra" or similar variation lately. Is your company tired of having its trademarks and trade names misused and abused on the Internet, through spam or other unauthorized marketing? It's can be a big problem for pharmaceutical companies. While it should be pretty obvious that spam touting less expensive, misspelled drugs isn't from a particular drug maker, the public is clearly gullible and there are likely to be many people who somehow think they are getting the real drug either directly from the manufacturer or some distributor.
Luckily for Pfizer, Wyeth and other pharma companies concerned about whether their trademarks are being misused or infringed (also consider domain names that mimic or use their trademarks, "marketing" materials being used on suspect websites, etc.), there are a couple outfits that will help to track and alert companies about nefarious trademark hijackers. One such outfit is MarkMonitor. It has a couple terrific products that basically comb the web in a matter of seconds, and repeat the cycle every few minutes, to monitor the use (or, if you prefer, misuse) of its customers' trademarks. In the interest of disclosure, MarkMonitor is not a client of mine nor do I hold any financial interest in the company. I had the pleasure of meeting its CEO the other day, and was struck by the comprehensive products and services they offer in this area and by its client roster (the list here is a very abbreviated list - they work with several pharma companies, too). If you want a good weapon in your arsenal for the retention of the value of your trademarks, this is something your company may want to consider.
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