American Home Products Corp. v. Chelsea Laboratories, Inc.

572 F. Supp. 278, 219 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 1192, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10245
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedAugust 5, 1982
DocketCiv. 81-3351
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 572 F. Supp. 278 (American Home Products Corp. v. Chelsea Laboratories, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
American Home Products Corp. v. Chelsea Laboratories, Inc., 572 F. Supp. 278, 219 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 1192, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10245 (D.N.J. 1982).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

BIUNNO, Senior District Judge.

This suit involves the manufacture and sale of a prescription medication called “conjugated estrogens” in the U.S. Pharmocopeia (U.S.P.), which plaintiff markets under the registered trademark “PREMARIN”, in pumpkin-seed or oval shaped tablets of four dosages, each in a different color, see Biocraft v. Merck, 532 F.Supp. 1068 (D.C.D.N.J.1980).

The defendants are “generic drug” manufacturers who also make “conjugated estrogens”, and who use the same trade dress, i.e., the same dosages in the same sizes, shapes and colors as plaintiff’s product, which is sold by its Ayerst Division.

The case came before the court on application for preliminary injunction, with supporting affidavits and proofs. Some defendants arranged for document requests and other discovery which postponed the hearing with the stipulation that the time so consumed would not be claimed against plaintiff as an element of delay. The same principle applies for time that has passed while numerous post-hearing submissions were made and because curia advisare vult.

The complaint is in four counts. Count I charges violation of § 43(a) of the Lanham Act [15 U.S.C. § 1125(a) ] by false representation of defendants’ products and by false designation of origin.

Count II charges violation of § 32 of the Lanham Act [15 U.S.C. § 1114], through contributory infringement in that defendants are alleged to have willfully placed in the hands of pharmacists products which they should reasonably have anticipated *279 would be passed off as plaintiff’s brand “PREMARIN”.

Count III charges unfair competition under State law.

Count IV charges that defendants’ products are not equivalent in composition, and hence not substitutes, for plaintiff’s “PRE-MARIN”, so that their sale as substitutes or equivalents amounts to unfair competition with plaintiff under § 43(a) of the Lanham Act [15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)],

Plaintiff holds two trademark registrations for “PREMARIN”, No. 397,925, registered September 29, 1942 for use on “pharmaceutical preparations for the treatment of ovarian deficiencies”, and No. 412,696, registered March 20,1945, for use on “pharmaceutical preparations containing estrogens”. There is no fact issue raised by any party defendant about the registration, validity, subsistence or ownership of these registrations.

The subject matter is somewhat different than for other cases of this kind in that the medication involved is biological product manufactured by pregnant mares and recovered from their urine during the 3rd to 9th months of their pregnancies. The major components, as described in the U.S.P., are estrone and equilin, both in the form of the sodium salts of their sulfate esters. Other components are 17 alpha-dihydroequilin, and smaller amounts of 17 beta-dihydroequilin, 17 alpha-and 17 beta-estradiol, delta 8, 9-dehydroestrone, equilenin, and 17 alpha- and beta-dihydroequilenin.

To the layman, these substances are of a nature like that of organic foods, separated and purified from a natural biological feedstock.

The U.S.P. standard of purity and strength is rather broad compared to most. For a given labelled amount, the total of conjugated estrogens may vary from 90% to 110% of the specified quantity. The estrone component may not be less than 50%, nor more than 65% of the total, and the equilin component may be not less than 20% and not more than 35% of the total. The total conjugated estrogen content, as noted, may well include some of the estrogen components other than the sodium salts of the sulfate esters of the two major estrogens, estrone and equilin.

The plaintiffs affidavits show, without serious contradiction, that Ayerst “PRE-MARIN” is prepared in a fashion that maintains the quantities and levels to stricter, narrower and more uniform limits than the U.S.P. standard allows.

As observed in the discussion of the nature of U.S.P. in United States v. An Article of Drug — Ova II, 414 F.Supp. 660 (D.C. D.N.J.1975), aff’d 535 F.2d 1248 (3d Cir. 1976), a particular product may barely satisfy the specified mínimums, yet will be entitled to be labelled lawfully as “U.S.P.”. If the same product meets the higher and stricter standards for a reagent chemical (R.C.) it will necessarily satisfy U.S.P. requirements and more.

As plaintiff’s proofs establish without contradiction, “PREMARIN” is prepared to a higher level of precision and a greater degree of uniformity as a result, than U.S.P. specifies. This additional care and effort necessarily implies that dosage administered will be closer to the physician’s intention than if the medication were allowed to vary within the entire range of the U.S.P. limits which, as noted, are rather broad.

The breadth of the allowed range is no doubt a recognition of the fact that the composition of the urine of a pregnant mare will vary, not only from mare to mare or from month to month, but also according to the nature and aggregate of foodstuffs and fluids ingested, the metabolic processes within each animal, and other inevitable variations.

Plaintiff levels out and neutralizes these variations by assay of the materials followed by blending of one with another in order to stay within a narrower range and at a more uniform level for the medicinal ingredients involved.

In effect, what Ayerst says is that its “conjugated estrogens”, sold as “PREMARIN”, is a medication of more uniformity as *280 to purity and strength than the products marketed by defendants, even though they may be lawfully claimed to meet U.S.P. standards.

The difference may be analogized to the difference between 24K gold and 23K gold, or between silver that is 99.9% pure to that which is 95% pure. In both cases the precious metal is “gold” or “silver”, but in each case one sample is purer and more uniform than the other.

The higher degree of purity and uniformity is accompanied by an inevitable cost. The less precisely prepared products, even though entitled to be labelled with the same U.S.P. grade, are not entitled to be substituted, as though fungible, for the “PRE-MARIN” product, any more than 23K gold can be sold as 24K gold.

There is no claim, of course, that any defendant copies the registered trademark “PREMARIN” directly. The claim is that by copying every physical feature distinguishable by the human senses, such as size, shape and color, the defendants have made their product “look like” plaintiff’s though in fact they are different.

No defendant denies that its product copies the PREMARIN trade dress as to color, size, shape and finish. Rather, their position is that it is industry practice to duplicate the trade dress of the innovator or market leader of a prescription drug.

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Bluebook (online)
572 F. Supp. 278, 219 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 1192, 1982 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10245, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/american-home-products-corp-v-chelsea-laboratories-inc-njd-1982.