Reuters AlertNet Lite - China firm turns focus from impotence to rat poison

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China firm turns focus from impotence to rat poison

01 Mar 2007 04:44:34 GMT
Source: Reuters

BEIJING, March 1 (Reuters) - A Chinese pharmaceuticals firm, riled by a dispute over its impotence cure, wants to register the name of a former head of the drug watchdog as the trademark for a series of rat poisons and pesticides, media said on Thursday.

The company in northeastern China was trying to register the name of Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of the State Food and Drug Administration sacked earlier this year on suspicion of taking bribes, the Beijing Times said.

"Corrupt officials have often been described as big rats, so the company wants to ring the alarm bell for officials by naming the dishonest ones as rat poison or pesticides," it quoted company chairman Jiang Wei as saying.

The company had a dispute with the drug administration in 1999, under Zheng's control, after it labelled "Weigekaitai", or the "Chinese Viagra", as an "inferior medicine", the newspaper said. The company had suffered losses because of the decision.

The trademark department of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce received the trademark application on Wednesday, the newspaper said.

But legal experts were quoted as saying Zheng had not been charged with any crime and still enjoyed the right of name protection.

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Last updated:Thu Mar 1 04:45:29 2007