Drug firm battles restaurants over Viagra name

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Two Manhattan restaurants are feeling some legal pressure from a pharmaceutical giant over the use of the Viagra name.

Pfizer is threatening trendy New York restaurants Chicama and Sabor with legal action if they don't remove a seafood dish called Viagra Ceviche from their menus.

The dish -- which contains mussels, shrimp and clams but no Viagra, a drug prescribed for erectile dysfunction in men -- has been a popular fixture on the restaurants' menus for two years, owing to its "uplifting" side effects.

Sabor head chef John Soler said that the name sprang from the meal's ability to double as an aphrodisiac.

But Pfizer said that trademark infringement is no laughing matter and has sent letters to both restaurants threatening "harsh penalties" if the dish's name is not altered.

"Viagra is a registered name owned by Pfizer," said Pfizer spokesman Geoff Cook. "It can't be used in this manner. We legally have to defend it."

Soler and Chicama head chef Douglas Rodriguez have vowed to keep the Viagra name.

Cook denied that Pfizer is pursuing the matter for publicity's sake.

"We don't need to enhance the reputation of Viagra," Cook said. "It's one of the best known pharmaceuticals in the world.

"It's a legal issue where these restaurants can't use the trademark in that manner. We must defend the name because if we don't, gradually it will be eroded. It's that simple."