Pfizer Wins Injunction Banning N.Y. Man's 'Viva Viagra' Missile Stunt
A federal judge has sided with Pfizer in an unusual trademark dispute over its erectile disfunction drug Viagra, granting a permanent injunction banning a New York man from towing a 25-foot missile replica emblazoned with “Viva Viagra” in front of the drug manufacturer’s Manhattan world headquarters.
In addition to U.S. District Judge William Pauley’s ruling on Tuesday that Arye Sachs and his advertising business must stop the missile stunt, the judge also said Sachs must pay the attorney fees for Kaye Scholer, which represented Pfizer in the case, reports Newsday.
Sachs, who did not have legal counsel in the matter, had ignored earlier requests to stop and had threatened to further tarnish Pfizer and Viagra’s reputation by including as part of future displays “two models ‘riding’ the missile and distributing condoms,” the judge said.
The 49-year-old defendant is a retired jeweler who collects decommissioned military equipment. He says he plans to appeal, Newsday reports.
Sachs had defended the missile stunt as an exercise of free speech, but Pfizer argued that passers-by could have thought the drug company was behind the apparent advertising campaign, explains Reuters.
