RETAIL TRADE: Green Gold

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Hucksters of toothpaste, who have plugged their products with such mysterious words as "Irium" and "ammoniated," now have a new open-sesame to sales. The word is chlorophyll, the substance that makes plant life green. Lever Brothers was the first to market a chlorophyll toothpaste; in two months its bright-green, minty Chlorodent has helped push Lever, which also sells Pepsodent, from third to second in toothpaste sales. By last week, Chlorodent had thrown such a scare into the rest of the industry that Colgate, the No. i toothpaste seller, as well as Bristol-Myers (Ipana), Whitehall Pharmacal (Kolynos) and other big manufacturers were rushing chlorophyll toothpastes of their own on the market.

Legal Brawl. The furious battle for sales was matched by a legal brawl over the question: Who has first claim on the green gold in chlorophyll toothpastes? A small pharmaceutical outfit named Rystan Co., Inc. of Mt. Vernon, N.Y. thinks that it has. Eleven years ago Rystan, which is owned by ex-Adman O'Neill Ryan Jr. and two associates, paid more than $200,000 for a patent on all medical and dental compositions of water-soluble chlorophyll derivatives. Last month a federal court in Dallas upheld Rystan's patent and awarded the company $6,727 in damages against

Columbus, Ohio's Warren-Teed Products Co., which had been selling a chlorophyll healing ointment without a Rystan license. Lever Brothers has already signed a licensing arrangement for Chlorodent which will bring Rystan nearly $1,000,000 by the time it expires this summer. Rystan's President Ryan has been trying to line up other licensees, but hasn't had much success. Bristol-Myers and Whitehall, already market-testing chlorophyll variations of Ipana and Kolynos, are not rushing to sign up with Rystan; Kolynos, for one, thinks that the patent may not cover its product. Last week the Block Drug Co., which cleaned up by putting the first widely distributed ammoniated tooth powder (Amm-i-dent) on the market, and Colgate-Palmolive-Peet both filed suits seeking to break Rystan's patent.

Dog Food. No matter who wins out in toothpaste, chlorophyll is already providing a bonanza for many other industries. Retail counters are full of chlorophyll products that promise to banish halitosis and B.O. and help heal cuts. On the market are twenty-nine different brands of deodorizing lozenges and tablets, seven brands of chewing gum, four brands of mouthwash, one chlorophyll-impregnated toilet paper, and a cigarette with chlorophyll to take away a smoker's "bad breath" even while he is smoking.

At least nine dog-food manufacturers now put chlorophyll in their products to keep Fido smelling nice. The prize item: insoles doused with chlorophyll to keep feet smelling fresh.