Life with Dr Quinn
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It was a battle between a Northern Ireland and a New York State company over the injectable veterinary penicillin market in the US that led the US company to steal its competitor's key trade secret, a New York court has said.
In his judgment Senior District Judge Howard G Munson outlined the key details of the battle between the two firms for the lucrative market.
He found that secrets belonging to Norbrook Laboratories, of Newry, Co Down, the company owned by the former senator, Dr Edward Haughey, were stolen by GC Hanford Manufacturing Co, of Syracuse, New York.
The court heard that Norbrook employs approximately 1,000 people and sells its range of veterinary pharmaceuticals in more than 110 countries including the US. Hanford employs about 300 people.
In an attempt to create a new method for producing the penicillin product Norbrook employed a Newry scientist, Dr Philip Quinn, in 1986 to work on a cheaper production method. Time and money were put into the effort and eventually a new, secret process was developed. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave permission for the sale of the Norbrook product in the US in November 1998.
An immediate result of the arrival of the cheaper product was a significant inroad by Norbrook into Hanford's share of the US market. Hanford decided to fight back...