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In legal wrangling that is unlikely to knock the O.J. Simpson trial off the front page, a Philadelphia-based punk rock band named Thorazine has drawn the ire of SmithKline Beecham, the drug company also headquartered in the City of Brotherly Love, according to a local weekly, the City Paper (M. Detweiler, May 5, 1995, page 9). Apparently, the company feels that the band's name could dilute the distinction of Thorazine, SmithKline's brand of chlorpromazine, a tranquilizer used to suppress the mo

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In legal wrangling that is unlikely to knock the O.J. Simpson trial off the front page, a Philadelphia-based punk rock band named Thorazine has drawn the ire of SmithKline Beecham, the drug company also headquartered in the City of Brotherly Love, according to a local weekly, the City Paper (M. Detweiler, May 5, 1995, page 9). Apparently, the company feels that the band's name could dilute the distinction of Thorazine, SmithKline's brand of chlorpromazine, a tranquilizer used to suppress the more flagrant symptoms of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Certified letters from SmithKline attorneys received by the band's lead singer, Jo-Ann Rogan, also charge that the group's use of the Thorazine brand name "falsely implies that SmithKline is affiliated with, or sponsors the quartet." Legal action is threatened if the band doesn't choose a new name by July 1. At stake, according to the group, is some $900 in T-shirts ...

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