Public domain "acetylsalicylic acid" (2-acetoxybenzoic acid) is better known as "aspirin" in the United States—a generic term. In Canada, however, "Aspirin", with an uppercase A, is still a trademark of the German company Bayer, while aspirin, with a lowercase "a", is not. Bayer lost the trademark in the United States, the UK and France after World War I, as part of the Treaty of Versailles. So many copycat products entered the marketplace during the war that it was deemed generic just three years later. Bayer also lost the trademark in the same jurisdictions for "Heroin" which it trademarked a year before it
Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid to be illegal. In Chile, GHB is a controlled drug under the law (psychotropic substances and narcotics). In Norway and in Switzerland, GHB is considered a narcotic and is only available by prescription under the trade name Xyrem (Union Chimique Belge S.A.). Sodium oxybate is also used therapeutically in Italy under the brand name Alcover for treatment of alcohol withdrawal and dependence. Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid γ-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), also known as 4-hydroxybutanoic acid, is a naturally occurring neurotransmitter and a psychoactive drug. It is a precursor to GABA, glutamate, and glycine in certain brain areas. It acts on the GHB receptor