Family complains that “love drug'”will smear their name

A major pharmaceutical company that is set to launch a drug for erection difficulties under the brand name Cialis is locked in battle with a family of the same name that fears ridicule unless the drug is renamed.

Eli Lilly says tadalafil, trademarked in 50 countries as Cialis, will far outperform Viagra. The company states that men with persistent erectile dysfunction reported an improved ability to achieve erections up to 24 hours after taking the drug, so allowing couples to regain a more spontaneous sex life.

The drug is due to be launched with a worldwide publicity campaign next year, once it has approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. A Formula One racing car driven by Christian Fittipaldi, currently bearing the Eli Lilly logo, will race under the Cialis brand. But the Cialis family, which has branches in the United Kingdom, France, Australia, and Canada, says that it will become the butt of jokes and abuse.

Albert Cialis from Kent and 11 other family members around the world alerted the BMJ: “We are horrified at this situation and have asked Eli Lilly to find an alternative name for their product. We consider it as being virtually the same as being called Viagra.”

They continued: “There is likely to be ridicule and worse, especially for female members of the family, and a burden for our young children, who can expect to be teased at school, with consequent psychological damage.”

The family contacted Eli Lilly's chief executive, Sidney Taurel, in June. The company said it would make a decision by the end of the summer, but the family hasn't heard anything since. The branding agency Interbrand Wood, which came up with the name, said it was derived from a play on the phrase “the sky's the limit” and an abstracted form of ciel, the French word for sky, plus an abbreviation of “system.”

An Eli Lilly spokeswoman said she sympathised with the family: “It is an unfair coincidence that the trademark is also a surname.” She said the company went through a well established process to register the trademark but that this could not screen out all potential problems. The trademark has been filed in 90 countries.

“Since the problem arose we contacted trademark attorneys who tell us there is no 100% effective medium to search for surnames. We have met with all the family members and told them that we will be coming to a decision soon. They will be the first to know,” she said.

If the Cialis family succeeds in getting the product renamed, it will cost Eli Lilly around £1m ($1.5m; £;1.6m) to rebrand the product for launch and promotion in the United Kingdom alone, according to a senior pharmaceutical public relations consultant.