Trial to Begin in Lawsuit Against Pfizer

Trial is scheduled to begin today in Los Angeles in a patent-infringement and unfair-competition lawsuit filed against Pfizer Inc. The giant drug maker is accused of misappropriating the trademark of Trovan Ltd., a British company that makes a system of electronic identification devices, and using the name Trovan for an antibiotic that it introduced last year. After heavily marketing the drug, Pfizer’s Trovan has become one of the most prescribed antibiotics. Also suing Pfizer is Electronic Identification Devices Ltd., a Santa Barbara company that is the exclusive North American distributor of Trovan’s products. Pfizer had no comment on the suit when it was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The two companies want jurors to bar Pfizer from using the Trovan name and are seeking more than $100 million in damages.