Eli Lilly & Co. v. Natural Answers, Inc.

Eli Lilly & Company (Lilly) (plaintiff), the manufacturer of the wildly successful antidepressant Prozac, brought a trademark-infringement action against Natural Answers, Inc. (Natural) (defendant), the manufacturer of Herbrozac, which Natural advertised as “a powerful, and effective all-natural and herbal formula alternative to [the] prescription drug Prozac.” At the time of the lawsuit, Lilly was a worldwide pharmaceutical company with billions in annual sales, and Prozac was the best-selling prescription antidepressant in the United States and entered the popular lexicon almost immediately after its introduction, which was six years before a suit was filed: Natural had just launched its business a year earlier, only advertised on the Internet, and had only one full-time employee, its founder. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) treated Natural’s dietary supplements as foods that do not require FDA drug approval but do require clear labeling that it makes clear the products are not FDA approved and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any illness. Nevertheless, Natural sought to market its products as natural alternatives to manufactured pharmaceuticals. Lilly argued that Natural’s use of its trademark was likely to cause confusion among consumers. Natural argued that Prozac had become so famous that it was now generic and no longer entitled to trademark protection. Lilly moved for a preliminary injunction to prevent Natural from continuing to market its product using the Herbrozac name and references to Prozac in its Internet advertising.