I. The Parties to the dispute
Bristol-Myers Co.
It all started in 1887 when two gentlemen by the names of William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers decided to invest $5,000 into a dying drug manufacturing company called Clinton Pharmaceutical Company located in Clinton, new York. Williams Bristol became the president with John Myers as vice president. http://www.bms.com/.
In 1899 the company became a corporation and the name changed to Bristol-Myers. It was at this point the company finally started to get out of debt. The very first nationally recognized product the company produced, was poor man’s spa. It consisted of a mineral salt that would dissolve in water to reproduce the natural mineral waters of Bohmia. Shortly thereafter, Ipana toothpaste was introduced the included a disinfectant in the formula to protect against bleeding gums. These two products transformed Bristol-Myers from a national company to an international one. Id.
Profits hit $1 million in 1924. With products sold in 26 countries, the company became publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange. However, after the depression, the company had to scale back on many of its products, focusing primarily of the mineral salt and toothpaste. With this shift, the company moved completely into the consumer products arena and started advertising to the public. Id.
When Bristol-Myers acquired Cheplin Laboratories in 1943, it transferred again into a producer of pharmaceutical products, since the acquisition allowed it the opportunity to fill the tremendous demand for penicillin. As such, Cheplin was renamed Bristol Laboratories. Id.
It was around this time the Squibb-Myers adapted the program of acquiring well-manages smaller companies. The first acquisition was Clairol, a haircol ...